a 



>>•' 




ATE 









^ f ! 










-^i^.^^-f&'V 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




w 




#■ 



'«tT 



»-^>- 



-jW 






:^'j*L 













r:^^"^ 

^^^ ^A\ I 








AROUiND 
THE WICKET GATE; 



OR, 

A FRIENDLY TALK WITH SEEKERS 
CONCERNING FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST 






. ^ C . II . S P U Pv G E O N . 



" ^ntrr ue m at tlje strait gate." — Matt. vii. 13. 



JV'ew l^oi'k : 
A. C ARMSTRONG & 

714 BROADWAY 
1890. 




o\ 



Vc,A 






^"..0, 



r 



By agreeiTient ATvith Messrs. PASSMORE & 
ALABASTER, and ^7vith my full authority, this 
book is published in America by Messrs. ARM- 
STRONG & SON of New York. 

C. H. SPURGEON. 



COPYRIGHT, 1S90, 
BY A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON. 



P E E F A C E . 



1\ /PILLIONS of men are in the outlying regions, far 
off from God and peace ; for these we pray, and 
to these we give warning. But just now we have to do 
with a smaller company, who are not far from the 
kingdom, but have come right up to the wicket gate 
which stands at the head of the way of life. One would 
think that they would hasten to enter, for a free and 
open invitation is placed over the entrance, the porter 
waits to welcome them, and there is but this one way 
to eternal life. He that is most loaded seems the most 
likely to pass in and begin the heavenward journey; 
but what ails the other men? 

This is what I want to find out. Poor fellows ! they 
have come a long way already to get where they are ; 
and the King's highway, which they seek, is right 
before them : wh}^ do they not take to the Pilgrim 
Eoad at once ? Alas ! they have a great many reasons ; 
and foolish as those reasons are, it needs a very wise 
man to answer them all. I cannot pretend to do so. 
Only the Lord himself can remove the folly which is 
bound up in their hearts, and lead them to take the 
great decisive step. Yet the Lord works by means ; 
and I have prepared this little book in the earnest 



4 PREFACE. 

hope that he may work by it to the blessed end of 
leading seekers to an immediate, simple trust in the 
Lord Jesus. 

He who does not take the step of faith, and so enter 
upon the road to heaven, will perish. It will be an 
awful thing to die just outside the gate of life. Almost 
saved, but altogether lost ! A man just outside Noah's 
ark would be drowned ; a manslayer just outside the 
wall of the city of refuge would be slain; and the man 
who is within a yard of Christ, and yet has not trusted 
him, will be lost. Therefore am I in terrible earnest to 
get my hesitating friends over the threshold. Come in ! 
Come in ! is my pressing entreaty. May the Holy 
Spirit render it effectual with many who shall glance 
at these pages ! May he cause his own almighty voice 
to be heard creating faith at once ! 

My reader, if Grod blesses this book to you, do the 
writer this favour — either lend your own copy to one 
who is lingering at the gate, or buy another and give 
it away ; for his great desire is that this little volume 
should be of service to many thousands of souls. 

To God this book is commended; for without his grace 
nothing will come of all that is written. 




PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITIGH. 



The host of American Christians who have 
had the privilege of listening to the prince of 
modern preachers of the gospel in his own 
London Tabernacle, and the countless thou- 
sands who have read his printed sermons, have 
long desired to see and hear him on this side 
the ocean. The state of his health, however, 
which requ.ires frequent respites from his in- 
cessant and exhausting labors, precludes the 
hope of an American tour, with its inevitable 
demands upon his already overburdened 
strength. 

All the more on this account they will wel- 
come a new volume from his pen, designed for 
the benefit of a class found in every Christian 
community, the object of the deepest concern to 
the Church of Christ : a volume written by a 
master in Israel who has shown such a profound 
knowledge both of the human heart with all 
its needs, and of the wisdom and power of God 
in the gospel, and who has been to so many 



O PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 

souls the blessed means of leading them to 
Christ. 

This new volume, like the author's many 
previous books and tracts, his well-organized 
Colporter Society, etc., testifies to his high 
appreciation of the power of the press, and to 
his desire thus to win for Christ myriads of 
those whom his voice cannot reach. 

To all who are hovering around the " Wicket 
Gate," or who even from time to time come 
within sight of it and wish they were safe 
within it, this little book is commended, with 
the hope that even while they are reading they 
will knock and it shall be opened to them. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Awakening --•-•---9 



Jesus Only -------16 

Faith in the Person of the Lord Jesus - - 21 

Faith vert Simple - - - - - - 35 

Fearing to Believe - - - - - -48 

Difficulty in the 'Wat of Believing - - 57 

A Helpful Survey of Christ's Work - - 65 

A Real Hindrance to Faith - - - . 73 

On Raising Questions - - - - _ - 80 

Without Faith no Salvation - - . . 88 

To those who have Believed - - - - 93 



^rounb i^c XDicket (Bate. 



RE AT numbers of persons 
have no concern about 
eternal things. They care 
more about their cats and 
dogs than about their souls. 
It is a great mercy to be 
made to think about our- 
selves, and how we stand 
towards God and the eternal world. This is 
full often a sign that salvation is coming to 
us. By nature we do not like the anxiety 
which spiritual concern causes us, and we 
try, like sluggards, to sleep again. This is 
great foolishness ; for it is at our peril that we 
trifle when death is so near, and judgment is 
so sure. If the Lord has chosen us to eternal 
life, he will not let us return to our slumber. 
If we are sensible, we shall pray that our 




10 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

anxiety about our souls may never come to 
an end till we are really and truly saved. 
Let us say from our hearts : — 

" He that suffered in my stead, 
Shall my Physician be ; 
I will not be comforted 
Till Jesus comfort me." 

It would be an awful thing to go dreaming 
down to hell, and there to lift up our eyes 
with a great gulf fixed between us and 
heaven. It will be equally terrible to be 
aroused to escape from the wrath to come, 
and then to shake ofp the warning influence, 
and go back to our insensibility. I notice 
that those who overcome their convictions 
and continue in their sins are not so easily 
moved the next time : every awakening 
which is thrown away leaves the soul more 
drowsy than before, and less likely to be 
again stirred to holy feeling. Therefore our 
heart should be greatly troubled at the 
thought of getting rid of its trouble in any 
other than the right way. One who had the 
gout was cured of it by a quack medicine, 
which drove the disease within, and the 
patient died. To be cured of distress of 
mind by a false hope, would be a terrible 
business : the remedy would be worse than 
the disease. Better far that our tenderness 



AWAKENING. 11 

of conscience should cause us long years of 
anguish, tlian tliat we should lose it, and 
perish in the hardness of our hearts. 

Yet awakening is not a thing to rest in, or 
to desire to have lengthened out month after 
month. If I start up in a fright, and find 
my house on fire, I do not sit down at the 
edge of the bed, and say to myself, '^ I hope 
I am truly awakened ! Indeed, I am deeply 
grateful that I am not left to sleep on!" 
No, I want to escape from threatened death, 
and so I hasten to the door or to the window, 
that I may get out, and may not perish 
where I am. It would be a questionable 
boon to be aroused, and yet not to escape 
from the danger. Remember, awakening is 
not salvation. A man may know that he is 
lost, and yet he may never be saved. He 
may be made thoughtful, and yet he may 
die in his sins. If you find out that you are 
a bankrupt, the consideration of your debts 
will not pay them. A man may examine 
his wounds all the year around, and they will 
be none the nearer being healed because he 
feels their smart, and notes their number. It 
is one trick of the devil to tempt a man to be 
satisfied with a sense of sin ; and another trick 
of the same deceiver to insinuate that the 
sinner may not be content to trust Christ, 



12 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

unless he can brin^ a certain measure ol 
despair to add to the Saviour's finished work. 
Our awakenings are not to help the Saviour, 
but to help us to the Saviour. To imagine 
that my feeling of sin is to assist in the 
removal of the sin is absurd. It is as though 
I said that water could not cleanse my face 
unless I had looked longer in the glass, and 
had counted the smuts upon my forehead. A 
sense of need of salvation by grace is a very 
healthful sign ; but one needs wisdom to use 
it aright, and not to make an idol of it. 

Some seem as if they had fallen in love 
with their doubts, and fears, and distresses. 
You cannot get them away from their terrors 
— they seem wedded to them. It is said 
that the worst trouble with horses when their 
stables are on fire, is that you cannot get 
them to come out of their stalls. If they 
would but follow your lead, they might 
escape the flames ; but they seem to be 
paralyzed with fear. So the fear of the fire 
prevents their escaping the fire. Reader, will 
your very fear of the wrath to come prevent 
your escaping from it ? We hope not. 

One who had been long in prison was not 
willing to come out. The door was open ; 
but he pleaded even with tears to be allowed 
to stay where he had been so long. Fond of 



AWAKENING. 13 

prison ! Wedded to the iron bolts and the 
prison fare ! Surely the prisoner must have 
been a little touched in the head ! Are you 
willing to remain an awakened one, and 
nothing more ? Are you not eager to be at 
once forgiven ? If you would tarry in 
anguish and dread, surely you, too, must be 
a little out of your mind ! If peace is to be 
had, have it at once ! Why tarry in the 
darkness of the pit, wherein your feet sink in 
the miry clay ? There is light to be had ; 
light marvellous and heavenly ; why lie in 
the gloom and die in anguish ? You do not 
know how near salvation is to you. If you 
did, you would surely stretch out your hand 
and take it, for there it is ; and it is to he had 
for the taking. 

Do not think that feelings of despair 
would fit you for mercy. When the pilgrim, 
on his way to the Wicket Gate, tumbled 
into the Slough of Despond, do you think 
that, when the foul mire of that slough stuck 
to his garments, it was a recommendation 
to him, to get him easier admission at the 
head of the way ? It is not so. The pilgrim 
did not think so by any means ; neither may 
you. It is not what you feel that will save 
you, but what Jesus felt. Even if there were 
some healing value in feelings, they would 



14 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

have to be good ones ; and the feeling which 
makes us doubt the power of Christ to save, 
and prevents our finding salvation in him, is 
by no means a good one, but a cruel wrong 
to the love of Jesus, 

Our friend has come to see us, and has 
travelled through our crowded London by 
rail, or tram, or omnibus. On a sudden he 
turns pale. We ask him what is the matter, 
and he answers, '^ I have lost my pocket-book, 
and it contained all the money I have in the 
world." He goes over the amount to a penny, 
and describes the cheques, bills, notes, and 
coins. We tell him that it must be a great 
consolation to liim to be so accurately ac- 
quainted with the extent of his loss. He 
does not seem to see the worth of our con- 
solation. We assure him that he ought to 
be grateful that he has so clear a sense of 
his loss ; for many persons might have lost 
their pocket-books and have been quite un- 
able to compute their losses. Our friend is 
not, however, cheered in the least. ^'No," 
says he, 'Ho know my loss does not help 
me to recover it. Tell me where I can find 
my property, and you have done me real 
service; but merely to know my loss is 
no comfort whatever." Even so, to believe 
that you have sinned, and that your soul is 



AWAKENING. 



15 



forfeited to the justice of God, is a very 
proper thing ; but it will not save. Salvation 
is not by our knowing our own ruin, but by 
fully grasping the deliverance provided in 
Christ Jesus. A person who refuses to look 
to the Lord Jesus, bat persists in dwelling 
upon his sin and ruin, reminds us of a boy 
who dropped a shilling down an open grating 




of a London sewer, and lingered there for 
hours, finding comfort in saying, ^' It rolled 
in just there ! Just between those two iron 
bars I saw it go right down." Poor soul ! 
Long might he remember the details of his 
loss before he would in this way get back a 
single penny into his pocket, wherewith to 
buy himself a piece of bread. You see the 
drift of the parable ; profit by it. 



) 



E3U3 ONLY. 




E cannot too often or too 
plainly tell the seeking soul 
that his only hope for salva- 
tion lies in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. It lies in liim com- 
pletely, only, and alone. To 
save both from the guilt and 
the power of sin, Jesus is 
all-sufficient. His name is called Jesus, 
because " he shall save his people from 
their sins." ''The Son of man hath power 
on earth to forgive sins " He is exalted 
on high " to give repentance and remission 
of sins.'^ It pleased God from of old to 
devise a method of salvation which should 
be all contained in his only-begotten Son. 
The Lord Jesus, for the working out of 
this salvation, became man, and being found 
in fashion as a man, became obedient to 



JESUS ONLy. 17 

death, even tlie death of the cross. If another 

way of deliverance had been possible, the 

cup of bitterness would have passed from 

him. It stands to reason that the darling of 

heaven would not have died to save us if we 

could have been rescued at less expense. 

Infinite grace provided the great sacrifice ; 

infinite love submitted to death for our sakes. 

How can we dream that there can be another 

way than the way which Grod has provided 

at such cost, and set forth in Holy Scripture 

so simply and so pressingly ? Surely it is 

true that ^' Neither is there salvation in any 

other : for there is none other name under 

heaven given among men, whereby we must 

be saved." 

To suppose that the Lord Jesus has only 

half saved men, and that there is needed 

some work or feeling of their own to finish 

his work, is wicked. What is there of ours 

that could be added to his blood and 

righteousness ? " All our righteousnesses are 

as filthy rags." Can these l)e patched on to 

the costly fabric of his divine righteousness ? 

Rags and fine white linen ! Our dross and 

his pure gold ! It is an insult to the Saviour 

to dream of such a thing. We have sinned 

enough, without adding this to all our other 

offences. 
2 



18 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

Even if we had any righteousness in which 
we could boast; if our fig leaves were 
broader than usual, and were not so utterly 
fading, it would be wisdom to put them away, 
and accept that righteousness which must be 
far more pleasing to God than anything of 
our own. The Lord must see more that is 
acceptable in his Son than in the best of us. 
The best of us I The words seem satirical, 
though they were not so intended. What 
best is there about any of us? '^ There is 
none that doeth good; no, not one." I who 
write these lines, would most freely confess 
that I have not a thread of goodness of my 
own. I could not make up so much as a. rag, 
or a piece of a rag. I am utterly destitute. 
But if I had the fairest suit of good works 
which even pride can imagine, I would tear 
it up that I might put on nothhig but the 
garments of salvation, which are freely given 
by the Lord Jesus, out of the heavenly 
wardrobe of his own merits. 

It is most glorifying to our Lord Jesus 
Christ that we should hope for every good 
thing from him alone. This is to treat him 
as he deserves to be treated ; for as he is God, 
and beside him there is none else, we are 
bound to look unto him and be saved. 

This is to treat him as he loves to be treated. 



JESUS ONLY. 



19 



for he bids all those who labour and are heavy 
laden to come to him, and he will give them 
rest. To imagine that he cannot save to the 
uttermost is to limit the Holy One of Israel, 
and put a slur upon his power; or else to 
slander the loving heart of the Priend of 
sinners, and cast a doubt upon his love. In 
either case, we should commit a cruel and 
wanton sin against the tenderest points of 
his honour, which are his ability and willing- 
ness to save all that come unto God by Inm. 

The child, in danger of the fire, just clings 
to the fireman, and trusts to him alone. She 



mm^-''j^ 




20 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

raises no question about the strength of his 
limbs to carry her, or the zeal of his heart to 
rescue her ; but she clings. The heat is 
terrible, the smoke is blinding, but she clings ; 
and her deliverer quickly bears her to safety. 
In the same childlike confidence cling to 
Jesus, who can and will bear you out of 
danger from the flames of sin. 

The nature of the Lord Jesus should in- 
spire us with the fullest confidence. As he is 
God, he is almighty to save ; as he is man, 
he is filled with all fulness to bless ; as he is 
God and man in one Majestic Person, he 
meets man in his creatureship and God in his 
holiness. The ladder is long enough to reach 
from Jacob prostrate on the earth, to Jehovah 
reigning in heaven. To bring another ladder 
would be to suppose that he failed to bridge 
the distance ; and this would be grievously to 
dishonour him. If even to add to his words 
is to draw a curse upon ourselves, what must 
it be to pretend to add to himself ? Remember 
that he, himself, is the Way ; and to suppose 
that we must, in some manner, add to the 
divine road, is to be arrogant enough to 
think of adding to him. Away with such a 
notion ! Loathe it as you would blasphemy ; 
for in essence it is the worst of blasphemy 
aorainst the Lord of love. 



JESUS ONLY. 21 

To come to Jesus with a price in our hand, 
would be insufferable pride, even if we had 
any price that w^e could bring. What does 
he need of us ? What could we bring if he 
did need it? AVould he sell the priceless 
blessings of his redemption ? That which he 
wrought out in his heart's blood, would he 
barter it with us for our tears, and vows, or 
for ceremonial observances, and feelings, and 
w^orks ? He is not reduced to make a market 
of himself : he will give freely, as beseems his 
royal love; but he that offereth a price to 
him knows not with whom he is dealing, 
nor how grievously he vexes his free Spirit. 
Empty-handed sinners may have what they 
will. All that they can possibly need is in 
Jesus, and he gives it for the asking ; but we 
must believe that he is all in all, and we must 
not dare to breathe a word about completing 
what he has finished, or fitting ourselves for 
what he gives to us as undeserving sinners. 

The reason why we may hope for forgive- 
ness of sin, and life eternal, by faith in the 
Lord Jesus, is that God has so appointed. 
He has pledged himself in the gospel to save 
all who truly trust in the Lord Jesus, and 
he will never run back from his promise. He 
is so well pleased with his only-begotten 
Son, that he takes pleasure in all who lay 



22 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

hold upon him as their one and only hope. 
The great God himself has taken hold on 
him who has taken hold on his Son. He 
works salvation for all who look for that 
salvation to the once-slain Redeemer. For 
the honour of his Son, he will not suffer the 
man who trusts in him to be ashamed. ^^ He 
that belie veth on the Son hath everlasting 
life ; " for the ever-living God has taken him 
unto himself, and has given to him to be a 
partaker of his life. If Jesus only be your 
trust, you need not fear but what you shall 
effectually be saved, both now and in the 
day of his appearing. 

When a man confides, there is a point of 
union between him and God, and that union 
guarantees blessing. Faith saves us because 
it makes us cling to Christ Jesus, and he is 
one with God, and thus brings us into con- 
nection with God. I am told that, years ago, 
above the Falls of Niagara, a boat was upset, 
and two men were being carried down by the 
current, when persons on the shore managed 
to float a rope out to them, which rope was 
seized by them both. One of them held fast 
to it, and was safely drawn to the bank ; but 
the other, seeing a great log come floating 
by, unwisely let go the rope, and clung to 
the great piece of timber, for it was the 



JESUS ONLY. 23 

bigger thing of the two, and ai'jparently 
better to cling to. Alas ! the timber, with the 
man on it, went right over the vast abyss, 
because there was no union between the wood 
and the shore. The size of the log was no 
benefit to him who grasped it ; it needed 
a connection with the shore to produce 
safety. So, when a man trusts to his works, 
or to his prayers, or almsgivings, or to 
sacraments, or to anything of that sort, he 
will not be saved, because there is no junction 
between him and God through Christ Jesus ; 
but faith, though it may seem to be like a 
slender cord, is in the hand of the great God 
on the shore side ; infinite power pulls in the 
connecting line, and thus draws the man from 
destruction. Oh, the blessedness of faith, 
because it unites us to God by the Saviour, 
whom he has appointed, even Jesus Christ ! 
reader, is there not common-sense in this 
matter ? Think it over, and may there soon 
be a band of union between you and God, 
through your faith in Christ Jesus ! 



FyVITH 1|N THE pEF^gON Of THE 
JUORD jEgU3 



|HERE is a wretched tendency 
among men to leave Christ 
himself oat of the gospel. 
They might as well leave 
flom^ out of bread. Men 
hear the way of salvation 
explained, and consent to it 
as being Scriptural, and in every way such 
as suits their case ; but they forget that a 
plan is of no service unless it is carried out ; 
and that in the matter of salvation their own 
personal faith in the Lord Jesus is essential. 
A road to York will not take me there, I 
must travel along it for mysell All the 
sound doctrine that ever was believed will 
never save a man unless he puts his trust 
in the Lord Jesus for himself. 

Mr. Macdonald asked tlie inhabitants of 




PERSONAL FAITH IN JESUS. 25 

the island of St. Kilda how a man must be 
saved. An old man replied, ^' We shall be 
saved if we repent, and forsake our sins, and 
turn to God." '^Yes," said a middle-aged 
female, ^' and with a true heart too." ^' ^y?" 
rejoined a third, '' and with prayer"; and, 
added a fourth, ^'It must be the prayer of 
the heart." '^ And we must be diligent too," 
said a fifth, ^'in keeping the command- 
ments." Thus, each having contributed his 
mite, feeling that a very decent creed had 
been made up, they all looked and listened 
for the preacher's approbation ; but they had 
aroused his deepest pity : he had to begin at 
the beginning, and preach Christ to them. 
The carnal mind always maps out for itself 
a way in which self can work and become 
great; but the Lord's way is quite the re- 
verse. The Lord Jesus puts it very com- 
pactly in Mark xvi. 16 : '^ He that belie veth 
and is baptized shall be saved." Believing 
and being baptized are no matters of merit 
to be gloried in; they are so simple that 
boasting is excluded, and free grace bears 
the palm. This way of salvation is chosen 
that it might be seen to be of grace alone. 
It may be that the reader is unsaved : what 
is the reason ? Do you think the way of 
salvation, as laid down in the text we have 



26 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

quoted, to be dubious ? Do you fear tliat 
you would not be saved if you followed it ? 
How can that be, when God has pledged his 
own word for its certainty ? How can that 
fail which God prescribes, and concerning 
which he gives a promise ? Do you think it 
very easy ? Why, then, do you not attend 
to it ? Its ease leaves those without excuse 
who neglect it. If you would have done 
some great thing, be not so foolish as to 
neglect the little thing. To believe is to 
trust, or lean upon Christ Jesus ; in other 
words, to give up self-reliance, and to rely 
upon the Lord Jesus. To be baptized is 
to submit to the ordinance which our Lord 
fulfilled at Jordan, to which the converted 
ones submitted at Pentecost, to which the 
jailer yielded obedience on the very night 
of his conversion. It is the outward con- 
fession which should always go with inw^ard 
faith. The outward sign saves not ; but 
it sets forth to us our death, burial, and 
resurrection with Jesus, and, like the Lord's 
Supper, it is not to be neglected. 

The great point is to believe in Jesus, and 
confess your faith. Do you believe in Jesus? 
Then, dear friend, dismiss your fears ; you 
shall be saved. Are you still an unbeliever? 
Then remember, there is but one door, and 



PERSONAL FAITH IN JESUS. 27 

if you will not enter by it, you must perish 
in your sins. The door is there ; but unless 
you enter by it, what is the use of it to 
you ? It is of necessity that you obey the 
command of the gospel. Nothing can save 
you if you do not hear the voice of Jesus, 
and do his bidding indeed and of a truth. 
Thinking and resolving will not answer 
the purpose ; you must come to real business ; 
for only as you actually believe will you 
truly live unto God. 

I heard of a friend who deeply desired to 
be the means of the conversion of a young man, 
and one said to him, '' You may go to him, 
and talk to him, but you will get him no 
further ; for he is exceedingly well acquainted 
with the plan of salvation." It was eminently 
so ; and therefore, when our friend began to 
speak with the young man, he received for 
an answer, ^' I am much obliged to you, but 
I do not know that you can tell me much, for 
I have long known and admired the plan of 
salvation by the substitutionary sacrifice of 
Christ." Alas ! he was resting in the plan, 
but he had not believed in the Ferson. The 
plan of salvation is most blessed, but it can 
avail us nothing unless we personally believe 
in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. What is 
the comfort of a plan of a house if you do not 



28 



AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 



enter the house itself ? The man in our cut, 




who is sitting out in the rain, is not 
deriving much comfort from the plans which 
are spread out before him. What is the good 
of a plan of clothing if yon have not a rag to 
cover you ? Have you never heard of the 
Arab chief at Cairo, who was very ill, and 
went to the missionary, and the missionary 
said he could give him a prescription ? He 
did so ; and a week after he found the Arab 
none the better. '• Did you take my pre- 
scription?" he asked. ''Yes, I ate every 
morsel of the paper." He dreamed that he 
was going to be cured by devouring the 
physician's writing, which I may call the 
plan of the medicine. He should have had 



PERSONAL FAITH IN JESUS. 29 

the prescription made up, and then it might 
have wrought him good, if he had taken the 
draught: it could do him no good to swallow 
the recipe. So is it with salvation : it is not 
the plan of salvation which can save, it is the 
carrying out of that plan by the Lord Jesus 
in his death on our behalf, and our acceptance 
of the same. Under the Jewish law, the 
offerer brought a bullock, and laid his hands 
upon it : it was no dream, or theory, or plan. 
In the victim for sacrifice he found something 
substantial, which he could handle and touch : 
even so do we lean upon the real and true 
work of Jesus, the most substantial thing 
under heaven. We come to the Lord Jesus 
by faith, and say, '^ Grod has provided an 
atonement here, and I accept it. I believe 
in the fact accomplished on the cross ; I am 
confident that sin was put away by Christ, 
and I rest on him." If you would be saved, 
you must get beyond the acceptance of plans 
and doctrines to a resting in the divine person 
and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Dear reader, will you have Christ now ? 

Jesus invites all those who labour and are 
heavy laden to come to him, and he will 
give them rest. He does not promise this to 
their merely dreaming about him. They 
must COME ; and they must come to him, and 



30 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

not merely to the Church, to baptism, or to 

the orthodox faith, or to anything short of his 

divine person. When the brazen serpent was 

lifted up in the wilderness, the people were 

not to look to Moses, nor to the Tabernacle, 

nor to the pillar of cloud, but to the brazen 

serpent itself. Looking was not enough 

unless they looked to the right object : and 

the right object was not enough unless they 

looked. It was not enough for them to know 

about the serpent of brass ; they must each 

one look to it for himself. When a man is ill, 

he may have a good knowledge of medicine, 

and yet he may die if he does not actually 

take the healing draught. We must receive 

Jesus; for ^'to as many as received him, to 

them gave he power to become the sons of 

Grod." Lay the emphasis on two words : 

We must receive HIM, and v:}e must receive 

him. We must open wide the door, and take 

Christ Jesus in; for ^'Christ in you" is ^Hhe 

hope of glory." Christ must be no myth, no 

dream, no phantom to us, but a real man, 

and truly God ; and our reception of him 

must be no forced and feigned acceptance, 

but the hearty and happy assent and consent 

of the soul that lie shall be the all in all of 

our salvation. Will we not at once come to 

him, and make him our sole trust ? 



PEKSONAL FAITH IN JESUS. 



31 



The dove is hunted by the hawk, and finds 
no security from its restless enemy. It has 
learned that there is shelter for it in the cleft 




of the rock, and it hastens there with glad- 
some wing. Once wholly sheltered within 
its refuge, it fears no bird of prey. But if 
it did not hide itself in the rock, it would 
be seized upon by its adversary. The rock 
would be of no use to the dove, if the dove 
did not enter its cleft. The whole body 
must be hidden in the rock. What if ten 
thousand other birds found a fortress there, 
yet that fact would not save the one dove 
which is now pursued by the hawk ! It must 
put its whole self into the shelter, and bury 
itself within its refuge, or its life will be 
forfeited to the destroyer. 



32 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

What a picture of faith is this ! It is enter 
ing into Jesus, hiding in his wounds. 

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee." 

The dove is out of sight : the rock alone is 
seen. So does the guilty soul dart into the 
riven side of Jesus by faith, and is buried 
in him out of sight of avenging justice. But 
tliere must be this personal application to 
Jesus for shelter; and this it is that so many 
put off from day to day, till it is to be feared 
that they will '^ die in their sins.'' What an 
awful word is that ! It is what our Lord 
said to the unbelieving Jews ; and he says 
the same to us at this hour: ^' If ye believe 
not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." 
It makes one's heart quiver to think that even 
one who shall read these lines may yet be of 
the miserable company who will thus perish. 
The Lord prevent it of his great grace ! 

I saw, the other day, a remarkable picture, 
which I shall use as an illustration of the way 
of salvation by faith in Jesus. An offender 
had committed a crime for which he must 
die, but it was in the olden time, when 
churches were considered to be sanctuaries 
in which criminals might hide themselves, 
and so escape from death. See the trans- 
gressor ! He rushes towards the church, the 



PERSONAL FAITH IN JESUS. 33 

guards pursue him with their drawn swords, 
athirst for his blood ! They follow him even 
to the church door. He rushes up the steps, 
and just as they are about to overtake 
him, and hew him in pieces on the thres- 
hold of the church, out comes the Bishop, 
and holding up the cross, he cries, '' Back, 
back ! Stain not the precincts of God's 
house with blood ! Stand back ! " The fierce 
soldiers at once respect the emblem, and 
retire, while the poor fugitive hides himself 
behind the robes of the Bishop. It is even 
so with Christ. The guilty sinner flies 
straight away to Jesus ; and though Justice 
pursues him, Christ lifts up his v/ounded 
hands, and cries to Justice, '' Stand back! I 
shelter this sinner ; in the secret place of my 
tabernacle do I hide him ; I will not suffer 
him to perish, for he puts his trust in me." 
Sinner, fly to Christ! But you answer, ^^I 
am too vile." The viler you are, the more 
will you honour him by believing that he is 
able to protect even you. '' But I am so 
great a sinner." Then the more honour 
shall be given to him if you have faith to 
confide in him, great sinner though you 
are. If you have a little sickness, and 
you tell your physician — '^ Sir, I am quite 
confident in your skill to heal," there is no 



34 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

great compliment in your declaration. Any- 
body can cure a finger-ache, or a trifling 
sickness. But if you are sore sick with a 
complication of diseases which grievously 
torment you, and you say — ^' Sir, I seek no 
better physician ; I will ask no other advice 
but yours; I trust myself joyfully with 
you ; " what an honour have you conferred 
on him, that you can trust your life in his 
hands while it is in extreme and immediate 
danger ! Do the like with Christ ; put your 
soul into his care : do it deliberately, and 
without a doubt. Dare to quit all other 
hopes: venture all on Jesus ; I say ^^ venture" 
though there is nothing really venturesome in 
it, for he is abundantly able to save. Cast 
yourself simply on Jesus ; let nothing but 
faith be in your soul towards Jesus ; believe 
him, and trust in him, and you shall never 
be made ashamed of your confidence. " He 
that believeth on him shall not be con 
founded" (1 Peter ii. 6). 



;.S,;'-^^«?7?\ 


^X"'^^^"^ 


i>ii^^^st2^SA>;/i<S''?^''£'''''^^^ 


^ 


^^^^IIlS^w^ 





Faith very 3'J^p^^- 




lO many, faith seems a hard 
thing. The truth is, it is 
only hard because it is easy. 
Naaman thought it hard that 
he should have to wash 
in Jordan ; but if it had 
been some great thing, he 
would have done it right cheerfully. People 
think that salvation must be the result of 
some act or feeling, very mysterious, and 
very difficult ; but God's thoughts are not our 
thoughts, neither are his ways our ways. In 
order that the feeblest and the most ignorant 
may be saved, he has made the way of 
salvation as easy as the A, B, C. There is 
nothing about it to puzzle anyone ; only, as 
everybody expects to be puzzled by it, many 
are quite bewildered when they find it to be 
so exceedingly simple. 



36 



AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 



The fact is, we do not believe that God 
means what he is saying; we act as if it 
could not be true. 

I have heard of a Sunday-school teacher 
who performed an experiment which I do 
not think I shall ever try with children, for 
it might turn out to be a very expensive 
one. Indeed, I feel sure that the result in 
my case would be very different from what I 
now describe. This teacher had been trying 
to illustrate what faith was, and, as he could 
not get it into the minds of his boys, he 
took his watch, and he said, "Now, I will 




give you this watch, John. Will you have 
it ? " John fell thinking what the teacher 
could mean, and did not seize the treasure, 



FAITH VERY SIMPLE. 37 

but made no answer. The teacher said to 
the next boy, ^' Henry, here is the watcli. 
Will you have it ? " The boy, with a very 
proper modesty, replied, ^^No, thank you, 
sir." The teacher tried several of the boys 
w4th the same result ; till at last a youngster, 
who was not so wise or so thoughtful as the 
others, but rather more believing, said in the 
most natural way, ^' Thank you, sir," and put 
the watch into his pocket. Then the other 
boys woke up to a startling fact : their com- 
panion had received a watch which they had 
refused. One of the boys quickly asked of 
the teacher, '^s he to keep it?" *^ Of 
course he is,' said the teacher, ^^I offered it 
to him, and he accepted it. I would not 
give a thing and take a thing : that would 
be very foolish. I put the watch before you, 
and said that I gave it to you, but none of 
you would have it." ''Oh!" said the boy, 
'' if I had known you meant it, I would have 
had it." Of course he would. He thought 
it was a piece of acting, and nothing more. 
All tlie other boys were in a dreadful state of 
mind to think that they had lost the watch. 
Each one cried, "Teacher, I did not know 
you meant it, hut I thought — " No one took 
the gift; but every one thought. Each one 
had his theory, except the simple-minded 



38 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

boy wlio believed what he was told, and got 
the watch. Now I wish that I could always 
be such a simple child as literally to believe 
what the Lord says, and take what he puts 
before me, resting quite content that he is 
not playing with me, and that I cannot be 
wrong in accepting what he sets before me 
in the gospel. Happy should we be if we 
would trust, and raise no questions of any 
sort. But, alas ! we will get thinking and 
doubting. When the Lord uplifts his dear 
Son before a sinner, that sinner should take 
him without hesitation. If you take him, 
you have him ; and none can take him from 
you. Out with your hand, man, and take 
him at once ! 

When enquirers accept the Bible as literally 
true, and see that Jesus is really given to 
all who trust him, all the difficulty about 
understanding the way of salvation vanishes 
like the morning's frost at the rising of the 
sun. 

Two enquiring ones came to me in my 
vestry. They had been hearing the gospel 
from me for only a short season, but they 
had been deeply impressed by it. They 
expressed their regret that they were about 
to remove far away, but they added their 
gratitude that they had heard me at all. 



FAITH VERY SIMPLE. 39 

I was cheered by their kind thanks, but felt 
anxious that a more effectual work should 
be wrought in tliem, and therefore I asked 
them "Have you in very deed believed in 
the Lord Jesus Christ ? Are you saved ? " 
One of them replied, '^I have been trying 
hard to believe.'' This statement I have 
often heard, but I will never let it go by 
me unchallenged. '' No," I said, " that will 
not do. Did you ever tell your father that 
you tried to believe him ? " After I had 
dwelt a while upon the matter, they admitted 
that such language would have been an insult 
tQ their father. I then set the gospel very 
plainly before them in as simple language as 
I could, and I begged them to believe Jesus, 
who is more worthy of faith than the best 
of fathers. One of them replied, "I cannot 
realize it : I cannot realize that I am saved." 
Then I went on to say, " Grod bears testi- 
mony to his Son, that whosoever trusts in his 
Son is saved. Will you make him a liar 
now, or will you believe his word ? " While 
I thus spoke, one of them started as if 
astonished, and she startled us all as she 
cried, "0 sir, I see it all; I am saved! 
Oh, do bless Jesus for me ; he has shown me 
the way, and he has saved me ! I see it all." 
The esteemed sister who had brought these 



40 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

young friends to me knelt down with them 
while, with all our hearts, we blessed and 
magnified the Lord for a soul brought into 
light. One of the two sisters, however, could 
not see the gospel as the other had done, 
though I feel sure she will do so before long. 
Did it not seem strange that, both hearing 
the same words, one should come out into 
clear light, and the other should remain in 
the gloom ? The change which comes over 
the heart when the understanding grasps 
the gospel is often reflected in the face, 
and shines there like the light of heaven. 
Such newly-enlightened souls often exclaim, 
'^ Why, sir, it is so plain ; how is it I have 
not seen it before this ? I understand all 
I have read in the Bible now, though I could 
not make it out before. It has all come in a 
minute, and now I see what I could never 
understand before." The fact is, the truth 
was always plain, but they were looking 
for signs and wonders, and therefore did not 
see what was nigh them. Old men often 
look for their spectacles when they are on 
their foreheads ; and it is commonly observed 
that we fail to see that which is straight 
before us. Christ Jesus is before our faces, 
and we have only to look to him, and live; 
but we make all manner of bewilderment of 



FAITH VERY SIMPLE. 41 

it, and so manufacture a maze out of that 
which is plain as a pikestaff. 

The little incident about the two sisters 
reminds me of another. A much-esteemed 
friend came to me one Sabbath mornincr after 
service, to shake hands with me, " for," said 
she, '' I was fifty years old on the same day 
as yourself. I am like you in that one thing, 
sir ; but I am the very reverse of you in 
better things." I remarked, " Then you must 
be a very good woman : for in many things 
I wish I also could be the reverse of what I 
am." ''No, no," she said, ^'I did not mean 
anything of that sort : I am not right at all." 
'^ What! " I cried, " are you not a believer 
in the Lord Jesus?" '' Well," she said, with 
much emotion, '^ T, I will try to be." I laid 
hold of her hand, and said, ^' My dear soul, 
you are not going to tell me that you v/ill 
try to believe my Lord Jesus ! I cannot have 
such talk from you. It means blank unbelief. 
What has HE done that you should talk of 
him in that way ? Would you tell 77ie that 
you would try to believe me ? I know you 
would not treat me so rudely. You think me 
a true man, and so you believe me at once ; 
and surely you cannot do less with my Lord 
Jesus." Then with tears she exclaimed, 
^' Oh, sir, do pray for me ! " To this I 



42 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

replied, ^' I do not feel that I can do 
anything- of the kind. What can I ask the 
Lord Jesus to do for one who will not 
trust him ? I see nothing to pray about. 
If you will believe him, you shall be saved ; 
and if you will not believe him, I cannot 
ask him to invent a new way to gratify your 
unbelief." Then she said again, "' I will try 
to believe " ; but I told her solemnly I would 
have none of her trying ; for tlie message from 
the Lord did not mention '' trying," but said, 
^' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
shalt be saved." I pressed upon her the great 
truth, that " He that belie veth on him hath 
everlasting life " ; and its terrible reverse — 
'' He that belie veth not is condemned already, 
because he hath not believed in the name 
of the only-begotten Son of Grod." I urged 
her to full faith in the once crucified but 
now ascended Lord, and the Holy Spirit there 
and then enabled her to trust. She most 
tenderly said, "• Oh, sir, I have been looking 
to my feelings, and this lias been my 
mistake ! Now I trust my soul with Jesus, 
and I am saved." She found immediate 
peace through believing. There is no other 
way. 

God has been pleased to make the neces- 
sities of life very simple matters. We must 



FAITH VERY SIMPLE. 



43 



eat ; and even a blind man can find the way 
to his mouth. We must drink ;^nd even 




the tiniest babe knows how to do this with- 
out instruction. We have a fountain in the 
grounds of the Stockwell Orphanage, and 



44 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

when it is running in tlie hot weather, the 
boys go to it naturally. We have no class 
for fountain-drill. Many poor boys have 
come to the Orphanage, but never one who 
was so ignorant that he did not know how to 
drink. Now faith is, in siDiritual things, what 
eating and drinking are in temporal things. 
By the mouth of faith we take the blessings 
of grace into our spiritual nature, and they 
are ours. you who would believe, but 
think you cannot, do you not see that, as one 
can drink without strength, and as one can 
eat without strength, and gets strength by 
eating, so we may receive Jesus without 
effort, and by accepting him we receive power 
for all such further effort as we may be called 
to put forth ? 

t'aith is so simple a matter that, whenever 
I try to explain it, I am very fearful lest I 
should becloud its simplicity. When Thomas 
Scott had printed his notes upon ^'The 
Pilgrim's Progress," he asked one of his 
parishioners whether she understood the book. 
'^Oh yes, sir," said she, '^I understand Mr. 
Bunyan well enough, and I am hoping that 
one day, by divine grace, I may understand 
your explanations." Should I not feel morti- 
fied if my reader should know what faith 
is, and then get confused by my explanation ? 



FAITH VERY SIMPLE. 



45 



I will, however, make one trial, and pray 
the Lord to make it clear. 

I am told that on a certain highland road 
there was a disputed right of way. The 
owner wished to preserve his supremacy, 
and at the same time he did not wish to 
inconvenience the public : hence an arrange- 
ment which occasioned the following incident. 




Seeing a sweet country girl standing at the 
gate, a tourist went up to her, and offered 
her a shilling to permit him to pass. "No, 
no," said tlie child, " I must not take any- 
thing from you; bat you are to say, ^Please 
allow me to pass,^ and then you may come 
through and welcome." The permission 
was to be asked for ; but it could be liad for 
the asking. Just so, eternal life is free ; and 



46 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

it can be liad, yea, it shall be at once had, 
by trusting in the word of him wlio cannot 
lie. Trust Christ, and by that trust you 
grasp salvation and eternal life. Do not 
philosophize. Do not sit down, and bother 
your poor brain. Just believe Jesus as you 
would believe your father. Trust him as 
you trust your money with a banker, or 
your health with a doctor. 

Faith will not long seem a difficulty to 
you ; nor ought it to be so, for it is simple. 

Faith is trusting, trusting wholly upon 
the person, work, merit, and power of the 
Son of God. Some think this trusting is a 
romantic business, but indeed it is the simplest 
thing that can possibly be To some of us, 
truths which were once hard to believe are 
now matters of fact which we should find it 
hard to doubt. If one of our great grand- 
fathers were to rise from the dead, and come 
into the present state of things, what a deal 
of trusting he would liave to do ! He would 
say to-morrow morning, ^' Where are the flint 
and steel ? I want a lio-ht ; '' and we should 
give him a little box with tiny pieces of wood 
in it, and tell him to strike one of them on 
the box. He would have to trust a good deal 
before he would believe that fire would thus 
be produced. We should next say to him, 



FAITH VERY SIMPLE. 47 

^^Now that you have a light, turn that tap, 
and light the gas." He sees nothing. How 
can light come through an invisible vapour ? 
And jet it does. ''Come with us, grand- 
father. Sit in that chair. Look at that box 
in front of you. You sh all have your likeness 
directly." '' No, child," he would say, '' it is 
ridiculous. The sun take my portrait ? I 
cannot believe it." '' Yes, and you shall ride 
fifty miles in an hour without horses." He 
will not believe it till we get him into the train. 
'' My dear sir, you shall speak to your son in 
New York, and he shall answer you in a few 
minutes." Should we not astonish the old 
gentleman ? Would he not want all his faith ? 
Yet these things are believed by us without 
effort, because experience has made us fami- 
liar with them. Faith is greatly needed by 
you who are strangers to spiritual things ; 
you seem lost while we are talking about them. 
But oh, how simple it is to us who have tlie 
new life, and have communion with spiritual 
realities ! We have a Father to whom we 
speak, and he hears us, and a blessed Saviour 
who hears our heart's longings, and helps us 
in our struggles against sin. It is all plain 
to him that understandeth. May it now be 
plain to you 1 



Fearijnq to Believe. 




T is an odd product of our un- 
healthy nature — the fear to 
believe. Yet have I met 
with it often : so often that 
I wish I may never see it 
again. It k)oks like humility, 
and tries to pass itself off as 
the very soid of modesty, 
and yet it is an infamously proud tiling : in 
fact, it is presumption playing the hypocrite. 
If men were afraid to <i^sbelieve, there would 
be good sense in the fear ; but to be afraid 
to trust their God is at best an absurdity, and 
in very deed it is a deceitful way of refusing 
to the Lord the honour that is due to his 
faithfulness and truth. 

How unprofitable is the diligence which 
busies itself in finding out reasons why faith 
in our case should not be saving ! We have 
God's word for it, that lohosoever believe th 



FEARING TO BELIEVE. 49 

in Jesus shall not perish, and we search for 
arguments why toe should perish if we did 
believe. If any one gave me an estate, 1 
certainly should not commence raising ques- 
tions as to the title. What can be the use 
of inventing reasons why I should not hold 
my own house, or possess any other piece of 
property which is enjoyed by me ? If the 
Lord is satisfied to save me through the 
merits of liis dear Son, assuredly I may be 
satisfied to be so saved. If I take God at 
his word, the responsibility of fulfilling liis 
promise does not lie with me, but with God, 
who made the promise. 

But you fear that you may not be one of 
those for whom the promise is intended. Do 
not be alarmed by that idle suspicion. No 
soul ever came to Jesus wrongly. No one 
can come at all unless the Fatlier draw him ; 
and Jesus has said, '' Him that cometh to me 
I will in no wise cast out." No soul ever 
lays hold on Christ in a way of robbery ; he 
that hath him hath him of right divine ; for 
the Lord's giving of himself /or us, and to us, 
is so free, that every soul that takes him has 
a grace-given right to do so. If you lay hold 
on Jesus by the hem of his garment, without 
leave, and behind him, vet virtue will flow 
from him to you as surely as if he had 



50 



AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 



called you out by name, and bidden you 
trust him. Dismiss all fear when you trust 
the Saviour. Take him and welcome. He 
that belie veth in Jesus is one of God's elect. 
Did you suggest that it would be a horrible 
thing if you were to trust in Jesus and yet 
perish ? It would be so. But as you must 
perish if you do not trust, the risk at the 
worst is not very great. 

" I can but perish if I go ; 
I am resolved to try ; 
For if I stay away, I know 
I must for ever die," 

Suppose you stand in the Slough of Desp^ond 




for ever; what will be the good of tliat? 



FEARING TO BELIEVE, 51 

Surely it would be bette.r to die struggling 
along the King's highway towards the Celes- 
tial City, than sinking deeper and deeper in 
the mire and filth of dark distrustful thoughts ! 
You have nothing to lose, for you have lost 
everything already ; therefore make a dash 
for it, and dare to believe in the mercy of 
God to youj even to you. 

But one moans, '' What if I come to Christ, 
and he refuses me ? " My answer is, '^ Try 
him." Cast yourself on the Lord Jesus, and 
see if he refuses you. You will be the first 
against whom he has shut the door of hope. 
Friend, don't cross that bridge till you come 
to it ! When Jesus casts you out, it will be 
time enough to despair ; but that time will 
never come. ^' This man receiveth sinners " : 
he has not so much as begun to cast them 
out. 

Have you never heard of the man who 
lost his way one night, and came to the edge 
of a precipice, as he thought, and in his own 
apprehension fell over the cliff ? He clutched 
at an old tree, and there hung, clinging to 
his frail support with all his might. He felt 
persuaded that, should he quit his hold, he 
w^ould be dashed in pieces on some awful 
rocks that waited for him down below. 
There he hung, with the sweat upon his 



52 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

brow, and anguish in every limb. He passed 
into a desperate state of fever and faintness, 
and at last his hands could hold up his body 
no longer. He relaxed his grasp ! He 
dropped from his support ! He fell — about 
a foot or so, and was received ujDon a soft 
mossy bank, w4iereon he lay, altogether 
unhurt, and perfectly safe till morning. 
Thus, in the darkness of their ignorance, 
many think that sure destruction awaits 
them, if they confess their sin, quit all 
hope in self, and resign themselves into the 
hands of God. They are afraid to quit the 
hope to which they ignorantly cling. It is 
an idle fear. Give up your hold upon every- 
thing but Christ, and drop. Drop from all 
trust in your works, or prayers, or feelings. 
Drop at once ! Drop now ! Soft and Safe 
shall be the bank that receives you. Jesus 
Christ, in his love, in the efficacy of his 
precious blood, in his perfect righteousness, 
will give you immediate rest and peace. 
Cease from self-confidence. Fall into the arms 
of Jesus. This is the major part of faith 
— giving up every other hold, and simply 
falling upon Christ. There is no reason for 
fear: only ignorance causes your dread of 
that which will be your eternal safety. The 
death of carnal hope is the life of faith, and 



FEARING TO BELIEVE. 53 

the life of faith is life everlasting. Let self 
die, that Christ may live in you. 

But tlie mischief is that, to the one act of 
faith in Jesus, we cannot brins^ men. They 
will adopt any expedient sooner than have 
done with self. They fight shy of believing, 
and fear faith as if it were a monster. 
foolish tremblers, who has bewitched you ? 
You fear that which would be the death of 
all your fear, and the beginning of your joy. 
Why will you perish through perversely 
preferring other ways to God's own appointed 
plan of salvation ? 

Alas ! there are many, many souls that say, 
" We are bidden to trust in Jesus, but instead 
of that we will attend the means of grace 
regularly." Attend public worship by all 
means, but not as a substitute for faith, or 
it will become a vain confidence. The com- 
mand is, ^' Believe and live ; " attend to that, 
whatever else you do. " Well, I shall take 
to reading good books ; perhaps I shall get 
good that way." Read the good books by 
all means, but that is not the gospel : the 
gospel is, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved." Suppose a physician 
has a patient under his care, and he says to him, 
'^YoQ are to take a bath in the morning; it 
will be of very great service to your disease." 



54 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

But the man takes a cup of tea in tlie morning 
instead of the bath, and he says, '' That will 
do as well, I have no doubt." What does his 
physician say when he enquires — ''Did you 
follow my rule ? " '' No, I did not." '' Then 
you do not expect, of course, that there will 
be any good result from my visits, since you 
take no notice of my directions." So we, 
practically, say to Jesus Christ, when we 
are under searching of soul, '' Lord, tfiou 
badest me trust thee, but I would sooner 
do sometiiing else ! Lord, I want to have 
horrible convictions ; I want to be shaken 
over hell's mouth ; I want to be alarmed and 
distressed ! " Yes, you want anything but 
what Christ prescribes for you, which is that 
you should simply trust him. Whether you 
feel or do not feel, cast yourself on him, that 
he may save you, and he alone. ''But you 
do not mean to say that you speak against 
praying, and reading good books, and so 
on ? " Not one single word do I speak 
against any" of those things, any more than, 
if I were the physician I quoted, I should 
speak against the man's drinking a cup of 
tea. Let him drink his tea ; but not if he 
drinks it instead of taking the bath which is 
prescribed for him. So let the man pray : 
the more the better. Let the man search 



FEARING TO BELIEVE. 



56 



the Scriptures ; but, remember, that if these 
things are put in the place of simple faith 
in Christ, the soul will be ruined. Beware 
lest it be said of any of you by our Lord, 
'^ Ye search the Scriptures, for in them ye 
think ye liave eternal life ; but ye will not 
come unto me that ye might have life." 

Come by faith to Jesus, for without him 
you perish for ever. Did you ever notice 
how a fir-tree will get a hold among rocks 



» A\ 




which seem to afford it no soil ? It sends a 
rootlet into any little crack which opens ; it 
clutches even the bare rock as with a huge 
bird's claw ; it holds fast, and binds itself to 



5Q AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

earth with a Imndred anchorages. Our little 
drawing is very accurate. We have often 
seen trees thus firmly rooted upon detached 
masses of bare rock. Now, dear heart, let 
this be a picture of yourself. Grip the Rock 
of Ages. Witli the rootlet of little-faith hold 
to him. Let that tiny feeler grow; and, mean- 
while, send out another to take a new grasp 
of the same Rock. Lay hold on Jesus, and 
keep hold on Jesus. Grow up into him. 
Twist the roots of your nature, the fibres of 
your heart, about him. He is as free to you 
as the rocks are to the fir-tree : be you as 
firmly lashed to him as the pine is to the 
mountain's side 





ft 


'iV' S 


!^^ 




itA 


^ 


• * 


i5^^ 




Difficulty ijm the Way of 
Believinq. 



T may be that the reader feels 
a difficulty in believing. 
Let him consider. We can- 
not believe by an immediate 
act. The state of mind 
which we describe as be- 
lieving is a result, following 
upon certain former states 
of mind. We come to faith by degrees. 
There may be such a thing as faith at first 
sight ; but usually we reach faith by stages : 
we become interested^ we consider, we hear 
evidence, we are convinced, and so led to 
believe. If, then, I wish to believe, but for 
some reason or other find that I cannot attain 
to faith, what shall I do ? Shall I stand like 
a cow staring at a new gate ; or shall I, like 
an intelligent being, use the proper means ? 
If I wish to believe anything, what shall 
I do ? We will answer according to the 
rules of common-sense. 



58 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

If I were told that the Sultan of Zanzibar 
was a good man, and it happened to be a 
matter of interest to me, I do not suppose 
I should feel any difficulty in believing it. 
But if for some reason I had a doubt about 
it, and yet wished to believe the news, how 
should I act ? Should I not hunt up all the 
information within my reach about his 
Majesty, and try, by study of the newspapers 
and other documents, to arrive at the truth ? 
Better still, if he happened to be in this 
country, and would see me, and I could also 
converse Avith members of his court, and 
citizens of his country, I should be greatly 
helped to arrive at a decision by using these 
sources of information. Evidence weighed 
and knowledge obtained lead up to faith. 
It is true that faith in Jesus is the gift of 
God ; but yet he usually bestows it in 
accordance with the laws of mind, and hence 
we are told that ' ^ faith cometh by hearing, 
and hearing by the word of Grod.'' If you 
want to believe in Jesus, hear about him, 
read about him, think about him, know 
about him, and so you will find faith 
springing up in your heart, like the wheat 
which comes up through the moisture and 
the heat operating upon the seed which 
has been sown. If 1 wished to have faith 



DIFFICULTY IN THE WAY OF BELIEVING. 59 



in a certain physician, I should ask for 
testimonials of his cures, I should wish to 
see the diplomas which certified to his pro- 
fessional knowledge, and I should also like 
to hear what he has to say upon certain 
complicated cases. In fact, I should take 
means to know, in order that I might believe. 
Be much in hearing concerning Jesus. 
Souls by hundreds come to faith in Jesus 
under a ministry which sets him forth clearly 
and constantly. Few remain unbelieving 
under a preacher whose great subject is Christ 
crucified. Hear no minister of any other sort. 
There are such. I have heard of one who 
found in his pulpit Bible a paper bearing this 
text, '^ Sir, toe tooiild see Jesus.'' Go to the 




place of worship to see Jesus ; and if you 
cannot even hear the mention of his name, 



60 AROUND TllH WICKET GATE. 

take yourself off to another place where he is 
more thought of, and is therefore more likely 
to be present. 

Be much in reading about the Lord Jesus. 
The books of Scripture are the lilies among 
which he feedeth. The Bible is the window 
through which we may look and see our Lord. 
Read over the story of his sufferings and 
death with devout attention, and before Ions' 
the Lord will cause faith secretly to enter 
your soul. The Cross of Christ not only 
rewards faith, but begets faith. Many a 
believer can say — 

" When I view thee, wounded, grieving, 
Breathless, on the cursed tree, 
Soon I feel my heart believing 
Thou hast suffered thus for me." 

If hearing and reading suffice not, then 
deliberately set your mind to loork to over- 
haut the matter^ and have it out. Either 
believe, or know the reason why you do not 
believe. See the matter through to the 
utmost of your ability, and pray God to help 
you to make a thorough investigation, and 
to come to an honest decision one way or 
the other. Consider who Jesus was, and 
whether the constitution of his person does 
not entitle him to confidence. Consider 
what he did, and whether this also must not 



DIFFICULTY IN THE WAY OF BELIEVING. 61 

be good ground for trust. Consider him as 
dying, rising from t1ie dead, ascending, and 
ever living to intercede for transgressors ; 
and see whether this does not entitle him to 
be relied on by you. Then cry to him, and 
see if he does not hear you. When Usher 
wished to know whether Rutherford was 
indeed as holy a man as he was said to be, 
he went to his house as a beggar, and gained 
a lodging, and heard the man of Grod pour- 
ing out his heart before the Lord in the 
night. If you would know Jesus, get as 
near to him as you can by studying his 
character, and appealing to his love. 

At one time I might have needed evidence 
to make me believe in the Lord Jesus ; but 
now I know him so well, by proving him, 
that I should need a very great deal of 
evidence to make me doubt him. It is now 
more natural to me to trust than to dis- 
believe : this is the new nature triumphing; 
it was not so at the first. The novelty of 
faith is, in the beginning, a source of weak- 
ness ; but act after act of trusting turns faith 
into a habit. Experience brings to faith 
strong confirmation. 

I am not perplexed with doubt, because 
the truth which I believe has wroug^ht a 
miracle on me. By its means I have received 



62 



AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 



and still retain a new life, to which I was 
once a stranger : and this is confirmation 
of the strongest sort. I am like the good 
man and his wife who had kept a lighthouse 
for years. A visitor, who came to see the 




liglithouse, looking out from the window 
over the waste of waters, asked the good 
woman, '' Are you not afraid at night, when 
the storm is out, and the big weaves dash 
right over tlie lantern ? Do you not fear 
that tlie lighthouse, and all that is in it, will 
be carried away ? I am sure I should be afraid 



DIFFICULTY IN THE WAY OF BELIEVING. 63 

to trust myself in a slender tower in the 
midst of the great billows." The woman 
remarked that the idea never occurred to 
her now. She had lived there so long that 
she felt as safe on the lone rock as ever she 
did when she lived on the mainland. As 
for her husband, when asked if he did not 
feel anxious when the wind blew a hurricane, 
he answered, ^' Yes, I feel anxious to keep 
the lamps well trimmed, and the light 
burning, lest any vessel should be wrecked." 
As to anxiety about the safety of the light- 
house, or his own personal security in it, he 
had outlived all that. Even so it is with the 
full-grown believer. He can humbly say, 
'^ I know whom I have believed, and am 
persuaded that he is able to keep that which 
I have committed unto him against that day." 
From henceforth let no man trouble me with 
doubts and questionings ; I bear in my soul 
the proofs of the Spirit's truth and power, 
and I will have none of yoiu* artful reason- 
ings. The gospel to me is truth : I am 
content to perish if it be not true. I risk 
my soul's eternal fate upon the truth of the 
gospel, and I know that there is no risk 
in it. My one concern is to keep tlie lights 
burning, that I may thereby benefit others. 
Only let the Lord give me oil enough to feed 



64 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

my lamp, so that I may cast a ray across 
the dark and treacherous sea of life, and I 
am well content. 

Now, troubled seeker, if it be so, that your 
minister, and many others in whom vou con- 
fide, have found perfect peace and rest in the 
gospel, why should not you ? Is the Spirit 
of the Lord straitened ? Do not his words 
do good to them that walk uprightly ? Will 
not you also try their saving virtue ? 
' Most true is the gospel, for God is its 
Author. Believe it. Most able is the Saviour, 
for he is the Son of God. Trust him. Most 
powerfid is his precious blood. Look to 
it for pardon. Most loving is his gracious 
heart. Run to it at once. 

Thus would I urge the reader to seek 
faith ; but if he be unwilling, what more can 
I do ? I have brought the horse to the 
water, but I cannot make him drink. This, 
however, be it remembered — unbelief is wilful 
when evidence is put in a mans loay^ mid he 
refuses carefully to examine it. He that does 
not desire to know, and accept the truth, has 
himself to thank if he dies with a lie in his 
ricrht hand. It is true that '' he that believeth 

a 

and is baptized shall be saved " : it is equally 
true that '' he that believeth not shall be 
damned." 



A Helpful ^^i^vey. 




?5 



help the seeker to a true 
faith in Jesus, I would re- 
mind him of the work of the 
Lord Jesus in the room and 
place and stead of sinners. 
'^ When we were yet with- 
out strength, in due time 
Christ died for the un- 
godly'' (Rom. V. 6). ^^ Who his own self 
bare our sins in his own body on the tree " 
(1 Pet. ii. 24). '' The Lord hath laid on 
him the iniquity of us all" (Is. hii. 6). ''~Fot 
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the 
Just for the unjust, that he might bring us 
to God" (1 Pet. iii. 18). 

Upon one declaration of Scripture let tlie 
reader fix his eye. '' With hiB stripes we 
ARE healed " (Is. liiL 5). God here treats 
sin as a disease, and he sets before us the 

costly remedy which he has provided. 
5 



66 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

I ask you very solemnly to accompany 
me in your meditations, for a few minutes, 
while I bring before you the stripes of the 
Lord Jesus. The Lord resolved to restore 
us, and therefore he sent his only-begotten 
Son, ^^very Grod of very God,'^ that he 
might descend into this world to take upon 
himself our nature, in order to our re- 
demption. He lived as a man among men ; 
and, in due time, after thirty years or more 
of obedience, the time came when he should 
do us the greatest service of all, namely, stand 
in our stead, and bear '' the chastisement 
of our peace." He went to Grethsemane, and 
there, at the first taste of our bitter cup, he 
sweat great drops of blood. He went to 
Pilate's hall, and Herod's judgment-seat, and 
there drank draughts of pain and scorn in 
our room and place. Last of all, they took 
him to the cross, and nailed him there to die 
— ^to die in our stead. The word ^* stripes " 
is used to set forth his sufferings, both of 
body and of soul. The whole of Christ was 
made a sacrifice for us : his whole manhood 
suffered. As to his body, it shared with his 
mind in a grief that never can be described. 
In the beginning of his passion, when he 
emphatically suffered instead of us, he was 
in an agony, and from his bodily frame a 



A HELPFUL SURVEY. 67 

bloody sweat distilled so copiously as to fall 
to the ground. It is very rarely that a man 
sweats blood. There have been one or two 
instances of it, and they have been followed 
by almost immediate death ; but our Saviour 
lived — lived after an agony which, to any- 
one else, would have proved fatal. Ere he 
could cleanse his face from this dreadful 
crimson, they hurried him to the high 
p]'iest's hall. In the dead of night they 
bound him, and led him away. Anon they 
took him to Pilate and to Herod. These 
scourged him, and their soldiers spat in his 
face, and buffeted him, and put on his head 
a crown of thorns. Scourging is one of the 
most awful tortures that can be inflicted by 
malice. It was formerly the disgrace of the 
British army that the '^cat" was used upon 
the soldier : a brutal infliction of torture. 
But to the Roman, cruelty was so natural that 
he made his common punishments worse than 
brutal. The Eoman scourge is said to have 
been made of the sinews of oxen, twisted 
into knots, and into these knots were in- 
serted slivers of bone, and huckle-bones of 
sheep; so that every time the scourge fell 
upon the bare back, '' the plowers made 
deep furrows." Our Saviour was called 
upon to endure the fierce pain of the Roman 



68 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

scourge, and this not as the finis of his 
punishment, but as a preface to crucifixion. 
To this his persecutors added buffeting, and 
pkicking of the hair : they spared him no 
form of pain. In all his faintness, through 
bleeding and fasting, they made him carry 
his cross until another was forced, by the 
forethought of their cruelty, to bear it, lest 
their victim sliould die on the road. They 
stripped him, and threw him down, and 
nailed liim to the wood. They pierced his 
hands and his feet. They Hfted up the tree, 
with him upon it, and then daslied it down 
into its place in the ground, so that all his 
limbs were dislocated, according to the 
lament of the twenty-second psalm, ^'lam 
poured out like water, and all my bones are 
out of joint." He hung in the burning sun 
till the fever dissolved his strength, and he 
said, '' My heart is like wax ; it is melted in 
the midst of my bowels. My strength is 
dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue 
cleaveth to my jaws ; and thou hast brought 
me into the dust of death." There he hung, 
a spectacle to God and men. The weight of 
his body was first sustained by his feet, till 
the nails tore through the tender nerves : 
and then the painful load began to drag 
upon his hands, and rend those sensitive 



A HELPFUL SURVEY. 69 

parts of his frame. How small a wound in 
the hand has brought on lockjaw ! How 
awful must have been tlie torment caused 
by that dragging iron tearing through the 
delicate parts of the hands and feet ! Now 
were all manner of bodily pains centred 
in his tortured frame. All the while his 
enemies stood around, pointing at him in 
scorn, thrusting out their tongues in mockery, 
jesting at his prayers, and gloating over liis 
sufferings. He cried, ^' I thirst," and then 
they gave him vinegar mingled with galL 
After a while he said, ^' It is finished." He 
had endured the utmost of appointed grief, 
and had made full vindication to divine 
justice : then, and not till then, he gave up 
the ghost. Holy men of old have enlarged 
most lovingly upon the bodily sufferings of 
our Lord, and I have no hesitation in doing 
the same, trusting that trembling sinners 
may see salvation in these painful '' stripes " 
of the Redeemer. 

To describe the outward sufferings of our 
Lord is not easy : I acknowledge that I have 
failed. But his soul- sufferings, which were 
the soul of his sufferings, who can even 
conceive, much less express, what they were ? 
At the very first I told you that he sweat 
great drops of blood. That was his heart 



70 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

driving out its life-floods to the surface 
through the terrible depression of spirit which 
was upon him. He said, '' My soul is ex- 
ceeding sorrowful, even unto death." The 
betrayal by Judas, and the desertion of the 
twelve, grieved our Lord ; but the weight of 
our sin was the real pressure on his heart. 
Our guilt was the olive-press whicli forced 
from him the moisture of his life. No lan- 
guage can ever tell his agony in prospect 
of his passion ; how little then can we con- 
ceive the passion itself ? AVhen nailed to 
the crosSj he endured what no martyr ever 
suffered ; for martyrs, when they have died, 
have been so sustained of God that they 
have rejoiced amid their pain ; but our 
Redeemer was forsaken of his Father, until 
he cried, '' My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me ? " That was the bitterest cry 
of all, the utmost depth of his unfathomable 
grief. Yet was it needful that he should be 
deserted, because God must turn his back on 
sin, and consequently upon him who was 
made sin for us. The soul of the great 
Substitute suffered a horror of misery instead 
of that horror of hell into which sinners 
would have been plunged had he not taken 
their sin upon himself, and been made a 
curse for them. It is written, ^' Cursed is 



A HELPFUL SURVEY. 71 

every one that hangeth on a tree ; " but who 
knows what that curse means ? 

The remedy for your sins and mine is 
found in the substitutionary sufferings of 
the Lord Jesus, and in these only. These 
'^stripes" of the Lord Jesus Christ were 
on our behalf. Do you enquire, '^ Is there 
anything for us to do, to remove the guilt of 
sin ? " I answer : There is nothing what- 
ever for you to do. By the stripes of Jesus 
we are healed. All those stripes he has 
endured, and left not one of them for us 
to bear. 

^' But must we not believe on him ? " Ay, 
certainly. If I say of a certain ointment 
that it heals, I do not deny that you need a 
bandage with which to apj)ly it to the wound. 
Faith is the linen which binds the plaster of 
Christ's reconciliation to the sore of our sin. 
The linen does not heal ; that is the work of 
the ointment. So faith does not heal ; that 
is the work of the atonement of Christ. 

^' But we must repent," cries another. 
Assuredly we must, and shall, for repentance 
is the first sign of healing ; but the stripes 
of Jesus heal us, and not our repentance. 
These stripes, when applied to the heart, 
work repentance in us : we hate sin because 
it made Jesus suffer. 



72 AROUND the" wicket GATE. 

When you intelligently trust in Jesus as 
having suffered for you, then you discover 
the fact that God will never punish you for 
the same offence for which Jesus died. His 
justice will not permit him to see the debt 
paid, first, by the Surety, and then again 
by the debtor. Justice cannot twice demand 
a recompense : if my bleeding Surety has 
borne my guilt, then I cannot bear it. 
Accepting Christ Jesus as suffering for me, 
I have accepted a complete discharge from 
judicial liability. I have been condemned 
in Christ, and there is, therefore, now no 
condemnation to me any more. This is the 
ground- work of the security of the sinner 
who believes in Jesus : he lives because 
Jesus died in his room, and place, and stead; 
and he is acceptable before God because 
Jesus is accepted. The person for whom 
Jesus is an accepted Substitute must go 
free ; none can touch him ; he is clear. 
my heaier, wdlt thou have Jesus Christ to be 
thy Substitute ? If so, thou art free. ^' He 
that belie veth on him is not condemned." 
Thus ''with his stripes we are healed." 



^ 


im 




^M 


P 




^ 


^^m^M 


B 


i 




^ 


s 


mM 


^K^«w^r 



A T\E/iL HlNDf^yVjNlCE. 




LT HOUGH it is by no means a 
difficult thing in itself to believe 
him who cannot lie, and to trust 
in One whom we know to be 
able to save, yet something may 
intervene which may render 
even this a hard thing to my 
reader. That hindrance may be 
a secret, and yet it may be none the less real. 
A door may be closed, not by a great stone 
which all can see, but by an invisible bolt 
which shoots into a holdfast quite out of 
sight. A man may have good eyes, and yet 
may not be able to see an object, because 
another substance comes in the way. You 
could not even see the sun if a handkerchief, 
or a mere piece of rag, were tied over your 
face. Oh, the bandages which men persist in 
binding over their own eyes ! 



74 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

A sweet sin, harboured in the heart, will 
prevent a soul from laying hold upon Christ 
by faith. The Lord Jesus has come to save 
us from sinning ; and if Ave are resolved to 
go on sinning, Christ and our souls will never 
agree. If a man takes poison, and a doctor 
is called in to save his life, he may have a 
sure antidote ready ; but if the patient per- 
sists in keeping the poison-bottle at his lips, 
and w^ill continue to swallow the deadly 
drops, how can the doctor save him ? Salva- 
tion consists largely in parting the sinner 
from his sin, and the very nature of salvation 
would have to be changed before we could 
speak of a man's being saved when he is 
loving sin, and wilfully living in it. A man 
cannot be made white, and yet continue 
black ; he cannot be healed, and yet remain 
sick; neither can anyone be saved, and be 
still a lover of evil. 

A drunkard will be saved by believing in 
Christ — that is to say, he will be saved from 
being a drunkard ; but if he determines still 
to make himself intoxicated, he is not saved 
from it, and he has not truly believed in 
Jesus. A liar can by faith be saved from 
falsehood, but then he leaves off lying, and 
is careful to speak the truth. Anyone can 
see with half an eye that he cannot be saved 



A REAL HINDRANCE. 75 

from being a liar, and yet go on in his old 
style of deceit and untruthfulness. A person 
who is at enmity with another will be saved 
from that feeling of enmity by believing in 
the Lord Jesus ; but if he vows that he will 
still cherish the feeling of hate, it is clear 
that he is not saved from it, and equally 
clear that he has not believed in the Lord 
Jesus unto salvation. The great matter is 
to be delivered from the love of sin : this is 
the sure effect of trust in the Saviour ; but if 
this elfect is so far from being desired that 
it is even refused, all talk of trusting in the 
Saviour for salvation is an idle tale. A man 
goes to the shipping-office, and asks if he can 
be taken to America. He is assured that a 
ship is just ready, and that he has only to go 
on board, and he will soon reach New York. 
^^ But," says he, ''I want to stop at home 
in England, and mind my shop all the time 
I am crossino: the Atlantic." The ag-ent thinks 
he is talking to a madman, and tells him to 
go about his business, and not waste his time 
by playing the fool. To pretend to trust 
Christ to save you from sin while you are still 
determined to continue in it, is making a mock 
of Christ. I pray my reader not to be guilty 
of such profanity. Let him not dream that 
the holy Jesus will be the patron of iniquity. 



76 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 



Do you see the tree in my picture ? The 




ivy has grown all over it, and is. strangling 
it, sucking out its life, and killing it. Can 
that tree be saved ? The gardener thinks it 
can be. He is willing to do his best. But 
before he begins to use his axe and his knife, 
he is told that he must not cut away the ivy. 
"Ah! tlien," he says, ^' it is impossible. It 
is the Ivy whicli is killing the tree, and if 
you want the tree saved, you cannot save 
the ivy. If you trust me to preserve the 
tree, you must let me get the deadly climber 
away from it.'' Is not that common sense ? 
Certainly it is. You do not trust the tree to 
the gardener unless you trust him to cut 
away that which is deadly to it. If the 



A REAL HINDRANCE. 77 

sinner will keep his sin, he must die in it ; if 
he is willing to be rescued from his sin, the 
Lord Jesus is able to do it, and will do it if 
he commits his case to his care. 

What, then, is your darling sin? Is it 
any gross wrong-doing ? Then very shame 
should make you cease from it. Is it love of 
the world, or fear of men, or longing for evil 
gains ? Surely, none of these things should 
reconcile you to living in enmity with God, 
and beneath his frown. Is it a human love, 
which is eating like a canker into the heart ? 
Can any creature rival the Lord Jesus ? Is 
it not idolatry to allow any earthly thing to 
compare for one instant with the Lord God? 
^'Well," saith one, ^'for me to give up the 
particular sin by which I am held captive, 
would be to my serious injury in business, 
would ruin my prospects, and lessen my 
usefulness in many ways.'' If it be so, you 
have your case met by the words of the Lord 
Jesus, who bids you to pluck out your eye, 
and cut off your hand or foot, and cast it 
from you, rather than be cast into hell. It 
is better to enter into life with one eye, with 
the poorest prospects, than to keep all your 
hopes, and be out of Christ. Better be a 
lame believei han a leaping sinner. Better 
be in the rear rank for life in the army of 



78 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

Christ than lead the van and be a chief 
officer under the command of Satan. If you 
win Christ, it will little matter what you 
lose. No doubt many have had to suffer 
that which has maimed and lamed them for 
this life ; but if they have entered thereby 
into eternal life, they have been great 
gainers. 

It comes to this, my friend, as it did with 
John Bunj^an ; a voice now speaks to you, 
and says — 

WILT THOU KEEP THY SIN AJSTD GO TO HELL? 

OR 
LEAVE THY SIN AND GO TO HEAVEN ? 

The point should be decided before you 
quit the spot. In the name of God, I ask 
you, Which shall it be — Christ and salva- 
tion, or the favourite sin and damnation ? 
There is no middle course. Waiting or 
refusing to decide will practically be a sure 
decision for the evil one. He that stands 
questioning whether he will be honest or not, 
is already out of the straight line : he that does 
not know whether he wishes to be cleansed 
from sin gives evidence of a foul heart. 

If you are anxious to give up every evil 
way, our Lord Jesus will enable you to do 



A EEAL HINDRANCE. 79 

SO at once. His grace has already changed 
the direction of your desires : in fact, your 
heart is renewed. Therefore, rest on him to 
strengtlien you to battle with temptations as 
they arise, and to fulfil the Lord's commands 
from day to day. The Lord Jesus is great at 
making the lame man to leap like a hart, and 
in enabling those who are sick of the palsy 
to take up their bed and walk. He will 
make you able to conquer the evil habit. He 
will even cast the devil out of you. Yes, if 
you had seven devils, he could drive them 
out at once ; there is no limit to his power to 
cleanse and sanctify. Now that you are 
willing to be made whole, the great difficulty 
is removed. He that has set the will right 
can arrange all your other powers, and make 
them move to his praise. You would not 
have earnestly desired to quit all sin if he 
had not secretly inclined you in that direc- 
tion. If you now trust him, it will be clear 
that he has begun a good work in you, and 
we feel assured that he will carry it on. 



On I^ai3inq QuESTiojMg. 




N these days, a simple, child- 
like faith is very rare ; but 
the usual thing is to believe 
nothing, and question every- 
thing. Doubts are as plen- 
tiful as blackberries, and all 
hands and lips are stained 
with them. To me it seems 
very strange that men should hunt up diffi- 
culties as to their own salvation. If I were 
doomed to die, and I had a hint of mercy, I 
am sure I should not set my wits to work to 
find out reasons why I should not be par- 
doned. I could leave my enemies to do that : 
I should bo on the look-out in a very different 
direction. If I were drowning, I should 
sooner catch at a straw than push a life-belt 
away from me. To reason against one's 
own life is a sort of constructive suicide of 



ON RAISING QUESTIONS. 



81 



which only a drunken man wonld be guilty. 
To argue against your only hope is like a 
foolish man sitting on a bough, and chopping 




it away so as to let himself down. Who but 
an idiot would do that ? Yet many appear 
to be special pleaders for their own ruin. 
They hunt the Bible through for threatening 
texts ; and when they have done with that, 
they turn to reason, and philosojDhy, and 
scepticism, in order to shut the door in their 
own faces. Surely this is poor employment 
for a sensible man. 

Many nowadays who cannot quite get 
away from religious thought, are able to 
stave off the inconvenient pressure of con- 
science by quibbling over the great truths of 
revelation. Great mysteries are in the Book 



82 



AROUND TJIE WICKET GATE. 



of God of necessity ; for how can the infiiiite 
God so speak that all his thoughts can be 
grasped by finite man ? But it is the height 
of folly to get discussing these deep things, 
and to leave plain, soul-saving truths in 
abeyance. It reminds one of the two 
philosophers who debated about food, and 




went away empty from the table, while the 
common countryman in the corner asked 
no question, but used his knife and fork 
with great diligence, and went on his way 
rejoicing. Thousands are now happy in the 
Lord through receiving the gospel like little 
chiklren ; while others, who can always see 
difficulties, or invent them, are as far off as 
ever from any comfortable hope of salvation. 
I know many very decent people who seem 



ON RAISING QUESTIONS. 83 

to have resolved never to come to Christ till 
they can understand how the doctrine of 
election is consistent with the free invitations 
of the gospel. I might just as well deter- 
mine never to eat a morsel of bread till it 
has been explained to me how it is that God 
keeps me alive, and yet I must eat to live. 
The fact is, that we most of us knoiv quite 
enougli already, and the real want with us 
is not light in the head, but truth in the 
heart ; not help over difficulties, but grace to 
make us hate sin and seek reconciliation. 

Here let me add a warning against tam- 
pering with the Word of Grod. No habit 
can be more ruinous to the soul. It is cool, 
contemptuous impertinence to sit down and 
correct your Maker, and it tends to make 
the heart harder than the nether millstone. 
We remember one who used a penknife on 
his Bible, and it was not long before he had 
given up all his former beliefs. The spirit 
of reverence is healthy, but the impertinence 
of criticizmg the inspired Word is destructive 
of all proper feeling towards Grod. 

If ever a man does feel his need of a 
Saviour after treating Scripture wiih a 2)roud, 
critical spirit, he is very apt to find his con- 
science standing in the way, and hindering 
him from comfort by reminding him of 



84 



AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 



ill-treatment of tlie sacred Word. It comes 
hard to him to draw consolation out of 
passages of the Bible which he has treated 
cavalierly, or even set aside altogether, as 
unworthy of consideration. In his distress 
the sacred texts seem to laugh at his calamity. 
When the time of need comes, the wells 
which he stopped with stones yield no water 
for his thirst. Beware, when you despise a 
Scripture, lest you cast away the only friend 
that can help you in the hour of agony. 

A certain German duke was accustomed to 
call upon his servant to read a chapter of the 
Bible to him every morning. When anything 
did not square with his judgment he would 
sternly cry, ^' Hans, strike that out." At 




ON RAISING QUESTIONS. 85 

length Hans was a long time before he began 
to read. He fumbled over the Book, till his 
master called out, '^Hans, why do you not 
read ? " Then Hans answered, ^^ Sir, there is 
hardly anything left. It is all struck out ! " 
One day his master's objections had run one 
way, and another day they had taken another 
turn, and another set of passages had been 
blotted, till nothing was left to instruct or 
comfort him. Let us not, by carping criticism, 
destroy our own mercies. We may yet need 
those promises which appear needless ; and 
those portions of Holy Writ which have been 
most assailed by sceptics may yet prove 
essential to our very life : wherefore let us 
guard the priceless treasure of the Bible, and 
determine never to resign a single line of it. 

What have we to do with recondite 
questions while our souls are in peril ? The 
way to escape from sin is plain enough. The 
wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err 
therein. God has not mocked us with a sal- 
vation which we cannot understand. Believe 
AND LIVE is a command which a babe may 
comprehend and obey. 

Doubt no more, but now believe ; 
Question not, but just receive. 
Artful doubts and reasonings be 
Nailed with. Jesus to trie tree. 



SQ 



AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 



Instead of cavilling at Scripture, the man 
who is led of the Spirit of God will close in 
with the Lord Jesus at once. Seeing that 
thousands of decent, common- sense people — 
people, too, of the best character — are trusting 
their all with Jesus, he will do the same, and 
have done with further delays. Then has he 
begun a life worth living, and he may have 
done with further fear. He may at once 
advance to that higher and better way of 
living, which grows out of love to Jesus, the 
Saviour. Why should not the reader do so 
at once ? Oh that he would ! 

A Newark, New Jersey, butcher received 
a letter from his old home in Germany, 
notifying that he had, by the death of a 




ON RAISING QUESTIONS. 87 

relative, fallen heir to a considerable amount 
of money. He was cutting up a pig at the 
time. After reading the letter, he hastily 
tore off his dirty apron, and did not stop to 
see the pork cut up into sausages, but left 
the shop to make preparations for going 
home to Germany. Do you blame him, or 
would you have had him stop in Newark 
with his block and his cleaver ? 

See here the operation of faith. The 
butcher believed what was told him, and 
acted on it at once. Sensible fellow, too ! 

God has sent his messao^es to man, telling^ 
him the good news of salvation. When a 
man believes the good news to be true, he 
accepts the blessing announced to him, and 
hastens to lay hold upon it. If he truly 
believes, he will at once take Christ, with 
all he has to bestow, turn from his present 
evil ways, and set out for the Heavenly City, 
where the full blessing is to be enjoyed. He 
cannot be holy too soon, or too early quit 
the ways of sin. If a man could really see 
what sin is, he would flee from it as from a 
deadly serpent, and rejoice to be freed from 
it by Christ Jesus. 



Without Faith no Salvation. 




OME think it hard that there 
should be nothing for them 
but ruin if they will not 
believe in Jesus Christ ; but 
if you will think for a minute 
you w^ill see tliat it is just 
and reasonable. 1 suppose 
there is no way for a man 
to keep his strength up except by eating. 
If you were to say, ^^I will not eat again, 
I despise such animalism," you might go 
to Madeira, or travel in all lands (sup- 
posing you lived long enough !), but you 
would most certainly hnd that no climate 
and no exercise would avail to keep you 
alive if you refused food. Would you then 
complain, ''It is a hard thing that I should 
die because I do not believe in eating " ? 
It is not an unjust thing that if you are so 



WITHOUT FAITH NO SALVATION. 89 

foolish as not to eat, you must die. It is 
precisely so with believing. '' Believe, and 
thou art saved." If thou wilt not believe, it 
is no hard thing that thou should st be lost. 
It would be strange indeed if it were not to 
be the case. 

A man who is thirsty stands before a 
fountain. "No," he says, ''I will never 
touch a drop of moisture as long as I live. 
Cannot I get my thirst quenched in my own 
way ? " We tell him^ no ; he must drink or 
die. He says, '^ I will never drink; but it is 
a hard thino^ that I must therefore die. It 
is a bigoted, cruel thing to tell me so." 
He is wrong. His thirst is the inevitable 
result of neglecting a law of nature. You, 
too, must believe or die ; w^hy refuse to obey 
the command? Drink, man, drink! Take 
Christ and live. There is the way of sal- 
vation, and to enter you must trust Christ ; 
but there is nothing hard in the fact that you 
must perish if you will not trust the Saviour. 
Here is a man out at sea ; he has a chart, 
and that chart, if well studied, Avill, with the 
help of the compass, guide him to his journey's 
end. The pole-star gleams out amidst the 
cloud-rifts, and that, too, will help him. 
"No," says he, "I will have nothing to do 
w^ith your stars; I do not believe in the 



90 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

North Pole. I sliall not attend to tliat little 
thing inside the box ; one needle is as good 
as another needle. I have no faith in your 
chart, and I will have nothing to do with it. 
The art of navigation is only a lot of non- 
sense, got up by people on purpose to make 
money, and I will not be gulled by it." 
The man never reaches port, and he says it 
is a very hard thing — a very hard thing. I 
do not think so. Some of you say, ''I am 
not going to read the Scriptures ; I am not 
going to listen to your talk about Jesus 
Christ: I do not believe in such things." 
Then Jesus says, '^He that belie veth not 
shall be damned." ^' That's very hard," say 
you. But it is not so. It is not more hard 
than the fact that if you reject the compass 
and the pole-star you will not reach your 
port. There is no help for it ; it must be so. 
You say you will have nothing to do with 
Jesus and his blood, and you pooh-pooh all 
relio^ioQ. You will find it ha-rd to lauo^h 
these matters down when you come to die, 
when the clammy sweat must be wiped from 
your brow, and your heart beats against 
your ribs as if it wanted to leap out and 
fly away from God. soul ! you will find 
then, that those Sundays, and those services, 
and this old Book, are something more and 



WITHOUT FAITH NO SALVATION. 01 

better than you tliought they were, and you 
will wonder that you were so simple as to 
neglect any true help to salvation. Above 
all, what woe it will be to have neglected 
Christ, that Pole-star which alone can guide 
the mariner to the haven of rest ! 

Where do you live ? 

You live, perhaps, on the other side of the 
river, and you have to cross a bridge before 
you can get home. You have been so silly 
as to nurse the notion that you do not believe 
in bridges, nor in boats, nor in the existence 
of such a thing as water. You say, ' ' I am 
not going over any of your bridges, and 
I shall not get into any of your boats. I do 
not believe that there is a river, or that there 
is any such stuff as water." You are going 
home, and soon you come to the old bridge ; 
but you will not cross it. Yonder is a boat ; 
but you are determined that you will not get 
into it. There is the river, and you resolve 
that you will not cross it in the usual way ; 
and yet you think it is very hard that you 
cannot get home. Surely something has 
destroyed your reasoning powers, for you 
would not think it so hard if you were in 
your senses. If a man will not do the thing 
that is necessary to a certain end, how can 
he expect to gain that end ? You have taken 



92 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

poison, and the physician brings an antidote, 
and says, ^' Take it quickly, or you will die; 
but if you take it quickly, I will guarantee 
that the poison will be neutralized." But 
you say, ^^No, doctor, I do not believe in 
antidotes. Let everything take its course ; 
let every tub stand on its own bottom ; I 
will have nothing to do with your remedy. 
Besides, I do not believe that there is any 
remedy for the poison I have taken ; and, 
what is more, I don't care whether there is 
or not.'' 

Well, sir, you will die ; and when the 
coroner's inquest is held on your body, the 
verdict will be, ^ Served him right ! ' So 
will it be with you if, having heard the 
gospel of Jesus Christ, you say, ^' I am too 
much of an advanced man to have any- 
thinfr to do with that old-fashioned notion 
of substitution. I shall not attend to the 
preacher's talk about sacrifice and blood- 
shedding." Then, when you perish, the 
verdict given by your conscience, which will 
sit upon the King's quest at last, will run 
thus, '^ Suicide : he destroyed his own soul.^^ 
So says the old Book — ' Israel, thou hast 
destroyed thyself 1 " lieader, I implore thee, 
do not so. 



To TH03E WHO H/^VE BeLIEVED. 




RIENDS, if now you have 
begun to trust the Lord, 
trust him out and out. 
Let your faitli be the 
most real and practical 
thing in 3'our whole life. 
Don't trust the Lord in 
mere sentiment about a 
few great spiritual things; but trust him 
for everything, for ever, both for time and 
eternity, for body and for soul. See hoAv 
the Lord hangeth the world upon nothing 
but his own word ! It has neither prop nor 
pillar. Yon great arch of heaven stands 
without a buttress or a wooden centre. The 
Ijord can and will bear all the strain tliat 
faith can ever put upon him. The greatest 
troubles are easy to his power, and the 
darkest mysteries are clear to his wisdom. 



94 



AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 



Trust God up to the hilt. Lean, and lean 
hard ; yes, lean all your weight, and every 
other weight upon the Mighty God of Jacob. 




The future you can safely leave with the 
Lordj who ever liveth and never changeth. 
The past is now in your Saviour's hand, and 
you shall never be condemned for it, what- 
ever it may have been, for the Lord has 
cast your iniquities into tlie midst of the 
sea. Believe at this moment in your present 
privileges. You are saved. If you are a 
believer in the Lord Jesus, you have passed 
from death unto life, and you are saved. 
In the old slave days a lady brought her 
black servant on board an English ship, 
and she laughingly said to the Captain, " I 



TO THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED. 95 

suppose if I and Aunt Chloe were to go to Eng- 
land she would be free ? " ^' Madam," said 
the Captain, " she is noiv free. The moment 
she came on board a British vessel she was 
free." When the negro woman knew this, 
she did not leave the ship — not she. It was 
not the hope of liberty that made her bold, 
but the fact of liberty. So you are not now 
merely hoping for eternal life, but ^ ' Ble that 
believeth in him hath everlasting lifeP Accept 
this as a fact revealed in the sacred Word, 
and begin to rejoice accordingly. Do not 
reason about it, or call it in question ; believe 
it, and leap for joy. 

I want my reader, upon believing in the 
Lord Jesus, to believe for eternal salvation. 
Do not be content with the notion that you 
can receive a new birth which will die out, 
a heavenly life which will expire, a pardon 
which will be recalled. The Lord Jesus 
gives to his sheep eternal life, and do not be 
at rest until you have it. Now, if it be 
eternal, how can it die out ? Be saved out 
and out, for eternity. There is ^^ a living 
and incorruptible seed, which liveth and 
abideth for ever " ; do not be put off with a 
temporary change, a sort of grace which 
will only bloom to fade. You are now 
starting on the railway of grace — take a 



96 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

ticket all the way through. I have no 
com mission to preach to you salvation for a 
time : the gospel I am bidden to set before 
you is, ''He that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved." He shall be saved from sin, 
from going* back to sin, from turning aside 
to the broad road. May the Holy Spirit lead 
you to believe for nothing less than that. 
''Do you mean," says one, "that I am to 
believe if I once trust Christ I shall be saved 
whatever sin I may choose to commit ? " I 
have never said anything of the kind. I 
have described true salvation as a thorough 
change of heart of so radical a kind that it 
will alter your tastes and desires ; and I say 
that if you have such a change w^rought in 
you by the Holy Spirit, it will be permanent ; 
for the Lord's work is not like the cheap 
work of the present day, which soon goes to 
pieces. Trust the Lord to keep you, how- 
ever long you may live, and however much 
you may be tempted ; and " according to 
your faith, so be it unto you." Believe in 
Jesus for everlasting life. 

Oh, that you may also trust the Lord for 
all the sufferings of this present time ! In 
the world you will have tribulation ; learn by 
faith to know that all things work together 
for good, and then submit yourself to tlic 



TO THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED. 



97 



Lord's will. Look at the sheep when it is 



.^. 




being shorn. If it lies quite still, the shears 
will not hurt it ; if it struggles, or even 
shrinks, it may be pricked. Submit your- 
selves under the hand of God, and afflic- 
tion will lose its sharpness. Self-will and 
7 



98 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

repining cause us a hundred times more 
grief than our afflictions themselves. So be- 
lieve your Lord as to be certain that his 
will must be far better than yours, and 
therefore you not only submit to it, but even 
rejoice in it. 

Trust the Lord Jesus in the matter of 
sanctification. Certain friends appear to 
think that the Lord Jesus cannot sanctify 
them wholly, spirit, soul, and body. Hence 
they wilUngly give way to such and such 
sins under the notion that there is no help 
for it, but that they must pay tribute to the 
devil as long as they live in that particular 
form. Do not basely bow your neck in 
bondage to any sin, but strike hard for 
liberty. Be it anger, or unbelief, or sloth, 
or any other form of iniquity, we are able, 
by divine grace, to drive out the Canaanite, 
and, what is more, we must drive him out. 
No virtue is impossible to him that believeth 
in Jesus, and no sin need have victory over 
him. Indeed, it is written, ^^ Sin sliall not 
have dominion over you : for ye are not 
under the law, but under grace." Believe 
for high degrees of joy in the Lord, and 
likeness to Jesus, and advance to take full 
possession of these precious things ; for as 
thou believest, so shall it be unto thee. 



TO THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED. 99 

^^All tilings are possible to him that be- 
lieve! h " ; and he who is the chief of sinners 
may yet be not a whit behind the greatest 
of saints. 

Often realize the joy of heaven. This is 
grand faith ; and yet it is no more than we 
ought to have. Within a very short time 
the man who believes in the Lord Jesus shall 
be with him where he is. This head will wear 
a crown ; these eyes shall see the King in his 
beauty ; these ears shall hear his own dear 
voice ; this soul shall be in glory ; and this 
poor body shall be raised from the dead and 
joined in in corruption to the perfected soul ! 
Glory, glory, glory ! And so near, so sure. 
Let us at once rehearse the music and anti- 
cipate the bliss ! 

But cries one, ' ' We are not there yet." No : 
but faith fills us with delight in the blessed 
prospect, and meanwhile it sustains us on 
the road. Reader, I long that you may be 
a firm believer in the Lord alone. I want 
you to get wholly upon the rock, and not 
keep a foot on the sand. In this mortal life 
trust God for all things ; and trust him alone. 
This is the way to live. I know it by 
experience. God's bare arm is quite enough 
to lean upon. I will give you a bit of the 
experience of an old labouring man I once 



100 AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

knew. He feared God above many, and 
was very deeply taught of the Spirit. My 
picture will show you what kind of a man 
he was — great at hedging and ditching; but 
greater at simple trust. Here is how he 
described faith: — "It was a bitter winter, 
and I had no work, and no bread in the 
house. The children were crying. The 
snow was deep, and my way was dark. 
My old master told me I might have a 
bit of wood when I wanted it : so I thouorht 
a bit of fire would warm the poor children, 
and I went out with my chopper to get some 
fuel. I was standing near a deep ditch full 
of snow, which had drifted into it many feet 
deep — in fact, I did not know how deep. 
While aiming a blow at a bit of wood my 
bill-hook slipped out of my hand, and went 
right down into the snow, where I could not 
hope to find it. Standing there with no food, 
no fire, and the chopper gone, something 
seemed to say to me, ' Will Richardson, can 
you trust Grod now ? ' and my very soul said, 
' That I can.' " This is true faith— the faith 
which trusts the Lord when the bill-hook is 
gone : the faith which believes God when all 
outward appearances give him the lie ; the 
faith which is happy with God alone when 
all friends turn their backs upon you. Dear 



TO THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED. 101 




OLD WILL, THE LABOFTIER. 



102 AROUND THE WICKET OxATE. 

reader, may you and I have this precious 
faith, this real faith, this God-honouring 
faith ! The Lord's truth deserves it ; his 
love claims it, his faithfulness constrains it. 
Happy is he who has it ! He is the man 
whom the Lord loves, and the world shall be 
made to know it before all is finished. 

After all, the very best faith is an every- 
day faith : the faith which deals with bread 
and water, coats and stockings, children and 
cattle, house-rent and weather. The super- 
fine confectionery religion which is only 
available on Sundays, and in drawing-room 
meetings and Bible readings, will never take 
a soul to heaven till life becomes one long 
Conference, and 'there are seven Sabbaths 
in a week. Faith is doing her very best 
when for many years she plods on, month 
by month, trusting the Lord about the sick 
husband, the failing daughter, the declining 
business, the unconverted friend, and such- 
like things. 

Faith also helps us to use the world as not 
abusing it. It is good at hard work, and at 
daily duty. It is not an angelic thing for 
skies and stars, but a human grace, at home 
in kitchens and workshops. It is a sort of 
maid of- all-work, and is at home at every 
kind of labour, and in every rank of life. 



TO THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED. 103 

It is a grace for every day, all the year 
round. Holy confidence in God is never out 
of work. Faith's ware is so valued at the 
heavenly court that she always has one fine 
piece of work or another on the wheel or in 
the furnace. Men dream that lieroes are only 
to be made on special occasions, once or 
twice in a century ; but in truth the finest 
heroes are home-spun, and are more often 
hidden in obscurity than platformed by public 
observation. Trust in the living God is the 
bullion out of which heroism is coined. Per- 
severance in well-doing is one of the fields 
in which faith grows not flowers, but the 
wheat of her harvest. Plodding on in hard 
work, bringing up a family on a few shillings 
a week, bearing constant pain with patience, 
and so forth — these are the feats of valour 
through which God is glorified by the rank 
and file of his believing people. 

Keader, you and I will be of one mind in 
this : we will not pine to be great, but we 
will be eager to be good. For this we will 
rely upon the Lord our God, whose we are, 
and whom we serve. We will ask to be 
made holy throughout every day of the 
week. We will pray to our God as much 
about our daily business as about our soul's 
salvation. We will trust him concerning our 



104 . AROUND THE WICKET GATE. 

farm, and our turnips, and our cows, as well 
as concerning our spiritual privileges and 
our hope of heaven. The Lord Jehovah is 
our household God ; Jesus is our brother 
born for adversity ; and the Holy Spirit is 
our Comforter in every hour of trial. We 
have not an unapproachable Grod : he hears, 
he pities, he helps. Let us trust him without 
a break, without a doubt, without a hesitation. 
The life of faith is life within Grod's wicket- 
gate. If we have hitherto stood trembling 
outside in the wide world of unbelief, may 
the Holy Spirit enable us now to take the 
great decisive step, and say, once for all, 
^* Lord, I believe : help thou mine unbelief! " 



INVALUABLE BOOKS 

BY REV. JAS. STALKER, M. A. 



LIFE OF CHRIST. i2mo. i66 pp. 60 cts. 
One of the latest and best lives of our Lord. Highly 
and universally commended. 

" It presents in a comparatively small space a clear, con- 
cise, and at the same time eloquent account of our Lord's 
career and teachings." — Congregationalist. 

THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. i2mo. 183 pp., with map. 
60 cts. 

A new and admirable work on this exhaustless theme. 

The author avails himself of the best previous writings 
and presents his own fresh thoughts clearly and concisely. 

"The picture of St. Paul's life and teachings as here 
given comprehends all the salient points and unites them 
into a very striking whole. The treatment is from the ortho- 
dox standpoint, under the light of the best modern criti- 
cism." — Evangelist. 

" We do not hesitate to say that no minister's library is 
complete without it." — Zion's Advocate. 

IMAGO CHRISTI. i2mo. 332 pp. $1 50. 

"The book holds the interest from the beginning to the 
end. The style is terse, clear, straightforward, adorned only 
by a lack of adornment."— Christian Inquirer. 

Smerican j|ract Jodctij, 

150 NASSAU ST. and 304 FOURTH AV., NEW YORK. 

BOSTON, 54 Bromfield st. ROCHESTER, N. Y., 93 State st. 
CHICAGO, 122 Wabash av. PHILADELPHIA, 1512 Chestnut st. 
CINCINNATI, 176 Elm st. SAN FRANCISCO, 735 Market st. 



0e^©ti©nal B©©l^s. 



DAILY LIGHT ON THE DAILY PATH. 32010. Size, 
4^ by 3X by ^ inches. 

Morning or Evening Hour, each, in cloth, 40 cts.; cloth 
gilt, 50 cts.; morocco gilt, ^i ; kid-lined, $2,. 

Morning and Evening Hour, combined. 32010 edition. 
Cloth, 60 cts.; cloth gilt, 75 cts.; Seal Russia, |i 20; morocco, 
%i 40; morocco, red and gold edges, %\ 60; seal extra, gold 
edges, %2 ; calf, %2 ; kid-lined, $4. 

Large Print Edition. i6mo. Size, 5^ by 4>^ ins. 

Morning or Evening Hour, each, cloth gilt, 75 cts.; mo- 
rocco, gilt, |i. 

Morning and Evening Hour, combined. Morocco gilt, %2 ; 
calf, |2 50; Levant gilt, I3 ; kid-lined, I5. 

ANCHOR OF THE SOUL. By Dr. Arnot. 24mo. 
48 pp. Cloth, 40 cts.; gilt, 60 cts. Cloth limp, 20 cts. 

BIBLE PRAYERS. By Jonas King, D. D. 32mo. 182 
pp. Cloth, 25 cts. 

CHRISTIAN HOME LIFE. i2mo. 299 pp. %i. 

DAILY COMMUNION WITH GOD. By J. R. Boyd, 
D. D. i8mo. 104 pp. Cloth, 30 cts.; gilt, 50 cts.; morocco, 
|i 25. 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS. By D. A. Harsha, M. A. 
i2mo. 566 pp. 7 portraits. Cloth, |i 50. 

DROPS FROM THE BROOK BY THE WAY. 24mo. 
196 pp. Cloth, 50 cts. 

PASSION FLOWERS. By Rev. C. S. Hageman, D. D. 
24mo. Illuminated. 64 pp. Cloth gilt, 50 cts. 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU ST. and 304 FOURTH AV., NEW YORK. 



THE BIBLE IN PICTURE AND STORY. 



By Mrs. L. S. Houghton. 4to. 240 pp. 269 illustrations, 
many of them full-page. Cloth, $1 25; gilt extra, |i 75. 

" An outline of Biblical history, told simply enough for 
the children to grasp easily, full of interest, and illustrated 
freely and fittingly. We like it." — Congregationalist. 

** Here is a book, safe, interesting, educating, sanctifying, 
designed and calculated to mould and otherwise help to 
form and even to construct the plastic mind for righteous- 
ness, usefulness, and honor. It should certainly fare well." 

Occident. 

" It is very freely illustrated. The type is large and suit- 
able for little folks, and the old, old stories of the old, old 
Book are told in a manner calculated to prove very attractive 
to little learners." — New York Observer. 

" This volume is adapted to catch the attention and win 
the interest of every child. There is a picture on every page 
of the two hundred and forty which make up the handsome 
quarto. Mothers who seek a new version of the old story 
will be glad to have their attention called to this, both for 
reading to the children and for placing in their hands when 
they have learned to read themselves." 

Christian Intelligencer. 

American Tract Society, 

150 NASSAU ST. and 304 FOURTH AV., NEW YORK. 



Helps to Bible Study. 



THE BIBLE DICTIONARY. By Rev. W. W. Rand, D. D. 
Revised and enlarged. 720 pp. 8vo. 360 illustrations. 18 
maps. Cloth, $2; sheep, sprinkled edge, $2 50; morocco, 
gilt, |3 50; full Levant, I5. 

"A model of accuracy, cheapness, and typographical ex- 
cellence." — Occident. 

" I have had occasion to refer to it frequently, and I am 
more than satisfied with its fulness and accuracy." 

Rev. C. Hamlin, D. D., in Christian Mirror. 

COMPANION TO THE BIBLE. By Prof. E. P. Bar- 
rovi^s, D. D. Designed to assist in the study of God's Word. 
8vo. 639 pp. Cloth, |i 75 ; half morocco, red edge, I3. 

CRUDEN'S CONCORDANCE. Edited by Rev. John 
Eadie. This book, containing over 150,000 distinct references 
to passages in the Scriptures, is invaluable to the student of 
the Word. Cloth, $1 ; roan, sprinkled edge, $2 25 ; half mo- 
rocco, sprinkled edge, $3. 

BIBLE TEXT-BOOK. i2mo. 232 pp. Cloth, 90 cts. 

A short yet very comprehensive cyclopaedia of the con- 
tents of the Holy Scriptures. All Bible places, persons, and 
subjects are arranged alphabetically, and under each word is 
given the texts bearing upon the same. It has the " Bible 
Student's Manual," with indexes, tables of various kinds, and 
a complete set of maps. It is one of the most useful and 
complete " Bible Helps " published. 

/\n]QriQaT] TraQt Society, 

150 NASSAU ST. and 304 FOURTH AV., NEW YORK. 



TE^d^M^'Ji ©IBLE^. 



NEW MINION TYPE, 6^ inches long, 5 wide, i^ thick. 

References between the verses. Morocco, leather lined, 

protecting edges, round corners, full flexible - I3 50 

With Text-Book, order No. 184; Concordance, No. 214. 

Levant, kid-lined, with pocket, red under gold edges, 
round corners, extra- 5 00 

With Text-Book, No. 185 ; Concordance, No. 215. 
"LARGE PRINT" Edition, yj^ inches by 5X by i^. 
References in centre of page. Mor., limp or stiff - 4 00 

With Text-Book, No. 189; Concordance, No. 219. 
Morocco, kid-lined, divinity circuit, full-flexible - 7 00 
With Text-Book, No. 191 ; Concordance, No. 221. 

Levant, kid-lined, flexible, silk-sewed, protecting edges, 

pocket, round corners 10 00 

With Text-Book, No, 192 ; Concordance, No. 222. 

LARGE PAPER (Wide Margin) Edition. 8^ ins. by 6>^ 
by 1%. Ref's in centre. With 24 blank pages for Notes, 
Scripture Index, Maps, etc. Seal, kid-lined. No. 199 11 00 
Do. with Text-Book instead of Scrip. Index, No. 211 12 00 

BIBLE STUDENT'S Editions. Full-faced Bourgeois, kid- 
lined binding, with Index and Maps. No. 250 - 10 00 
Same book, with Bible Text-Book, No. 255 - - 11 00 

NEW STYLES, POCKET EDITIONS, containing over 
500 pages of aids to Bible Study, including Concordance, 
Subject Index, Proper Names, their pronunciation, etc.. 
Epitome of Bible History, Chronological Tables, Bible 
Monuments, Classification of Bible Animals, Birds, Po- 
etry, Music, Weights and Measures, with 12 Maps. 

No. 603 T. Pearl, sH by 4X by 1)4 ins. French morocco, 

flap edges, gilt, round corners, postpaid - - i 75 

No. 496 T. Ruby, size and binding as 603. Postpaid i 88 

7\tt|eriGar| Tract SoQietyj 

150 NASSAU ST. and 304 FOURTH AV., NEW YORK. 



VOLUMES BY DR. ROBINSON. 



SABBATH EVENING SERMONS. 12mo. $1 25 

Discourses which might be read for tlie services in churches Avith- 
out a pastor. 

SERMONS IN SONGS. 12mo. 1 25 

Sermons preached in the Memorial Church, New York city, the 
texts of which are chosen from the Songs of the Bible. 

CHURCH WORK. 12mo. 1 25 

Sermons neither occasional nor selected, but the actual rehearsal 
(once a week) of half a year's pastoral work. 

BETHEL AND PENUEL. 12mo. 1 25 

The remaining half-year's work in the same pulpit: founded upon 
the two incidents of Jacob's life at Bethel and Penuel. 

STUDIES OF NEGLECTED TEXTS. 12mo. , - 1 25 

Sermons peculiar in that the themes of discourse are chosen from 
texts somewhat rarely selected for pulpit use. 

STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 12mo. 1 25 

Homiletic expositions with illustrations of consecutive passages in 
the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse. 

STUDIES IN MARK'S GOSPEL. 12mo. 1 25 

These discourses are constructed upon passages for study chosen 
in the shortest and most vivid of the four Gospels. 

FROM SAMUEL TO SOLOMON. 12mo. 1 25 

Four histories— Samuel's and Saul's. David's and Solomon's— cross 
the highest lines of Israel's splendor as a kingdom. 

STUDIES IN LUKE'S GOSPEL. I. 12mo. - - 1 25 

These discourses are like the others in construction, being exposi- 
tory and illustrative; they cover the first half of the third Gospel. 

SIMON PETER: His Early Life and Times. 12mo 1 25 

Sermons, biographical and practical, picturesquely delineating the 
career of this misunderstood disciple of our Lord. 



FOR SALE BY THE 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 



INSTRUCTIVE VOLUMES. 

By tliat eminent author 

REV. E. F. BURR, D. D., LL. D. 



ECCE C(EIiUM. 12mo. 198 pp. $1. 

"I have gotten a better idea of Astronomy, as a whole, from it than I ever 
got before fi-ora all other sources."— Horace Bushnell. 

PATER 3IUJVDI ; or Modern Science Testifying to the Hea-renly 
Father. First Series. l2mo. 307 pp. $1 25. 

" It discusses with masterly ability the testimonies of Modern Science to the 
being of a God."— Presbyterian Review. 

PATER MUIVDI ; or The Doctrine of Evolution. Second Series. 
12mo. 370 pp. $1 25. 

"A complete and unanswerable reply to Evolutionism." — Lutheran Quar- 
terly Review. 

AD FIDEM. 12mo. 388 pp. $1 50. 

" One of the finest defences of the Christian religion tliat has been made in 
this country."— Christian quarterly. 

TEMPTED TO UNBEL.IEF. 12mo. 224 pp. $1. 

"We should like to see it circulating actively from house to house in every 
community."— Congregationalist. 

CEIiESTIAL. EMPIRES. 12mo. 302 pp. $1 50. 

" A very grand view of the revelations of science."— Prof. James Dana. 

UXIVERSAIi BELIEFS. 12mo. 312 pp. $1 25. 

"An able and opportune volume, forcibly setting forth essential truths."— 
President Mark Hopkins. 

LONG AGO: as Interpreted by the Nineteenth Century. 12mo. 

388 pp. Cloth, $1 50. 

SUPREME THINGS. l-2n:o. 430 pp. $1 75. 

A fresh and suggestive work, treating in the author's striking style of many 
of the themes of highest importance— such as the Supreme Book, the Supreme 
Day, Institution, Evil, Good, etc. 

American Tract Society, 

150 Nassau St., New York; Boston. 54 Biomfield St.: Philadelphia, 1512 Chestnut 
St.; Rochester, 93 State St.: Chicago, 122 Wabash Ave.; Cincinnati, 176 Elm St.; 
San Francisco, 735 Market St. 



IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS WORKS. 

MR. SPURGEON'S NEW BOOKS. 

I. THE SALT-CELLARS, PROVERBS AND QUAINT 

SAYINGS, Together with Homely Notes Thereon. 

JM. to Ij, Very handsomely bound in i2mo, illuminated 
cloth, gilt side, $i 50. 

"The placing of a proverb for every day for twenty years 
has cost me great labor, and I feel that I cannot afford to lose the 
large collection of sentences which I have thus brought together. 
There are many proverb books, but none exactly like these. Some 
of my sentences are quite new, and more are put into a fresh form." 

From the Author^s Preface. 
The London Literary World says : " There is not a page that is not brightened 
with genuine wit and enriched with wisdom." 

" An admirable help to teachers and preacliers, being very suggestive of illus- 
tration. It is not only highly entertaining, but full of instruction." 

St. Louis Evangelist. 
"The pith, pertinence, and point of the work are sure to make it popular and 
helpful." — N. W. Christian Advocate and Journal. 

" An exceedingly interesting book which should find a place in every family, 
and especially in every teacher's library." — Reformed Quarterly Review. 

Second Series — A Companion Volume — •JfK to J^. 
THE SALT-CELLARS, PROVERBS AND QUAINT 
SAYINGS. Bound uniform with ist series. Price, |i 50. 

II. THE CHEQUE BOOK OF THE BANK OF FAITH. 

Being Precious Promises arranged for daily use. With 

brief experimental comments. Nearly 400 pages, i2mo, 

cloth, gilt side, %\ 50. 

"When it is stated that this well-named book contains a Scrip- 
ture Promise for Each Day in the Year, commented on, in his best 
vein, by the prince of practical and experimental preachers, enough 
has been said to commend it as first in its class." 

JSeio York Christian Intelligencer. 

" It is done in the great preacher's inimitable style, and speaks home on every 
page to the heart and need of the believer."— iVew York Independent. 

"Mr. Spurgeon's words are so plain, his style so spiirkling, and his spirit so 
devout, that the reading of his productions is almost sure to excite a mental glow 
and awaken holy aspirations. This book is brimful of quickening, soothing, soul- 
lifting power."— iVew York Witness. 

" As there are three hundred and sixty-five cheques in this book, the man who 
makes right use of tiiem is rich indeed." — New York Observer. 

Copies sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price. 
A. C. ARMSTRONG & SON, 714 Broadv^ay, New York. 



p. /L 






^M 



'^'^M 



■'^:i 














.1 .v.c^'V^^^^^ 
S'i-'fli^ ^♦t'p -'^^^ 




. ir^ ^5 :5^s' 









M 







UBRARY 














